NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stock prices slipped on Tuesday on concerns about the political outlook in Europe and U.S. economic growth, while nervous investors piled into yen and low-risk U.S. and German government bonds.

Traders work in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, May 29, 2017. REUTERS/Staff/Remote

Oil prices declined on worries about global oversupply despite OPEC’s pact last week to extend its crude output cut until the first quarter of 2018.

Gold XAU rose to a one-month high of $1,270 an ounce on safe-haven demand before it ran out of steam.

“There is a whiff of risk aversion about the markets,” said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto.

The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS, which tracks shares in 45 nations, fell 0.40 point or 0.09 percent, to 463.89.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI closed down 51.02 points, or 0.24 percent, to 21,029.26, the S&P 500 .SPX ended 2.89 points, or 0.12 percent, lower at 2,412.93 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC finished down 7.01 points, or 0.11 percent, to 6,203.19.

Recent U.S. economic reports have supported a growing view that the world’s biggest economy is not recovering from an anemic first quarter as vigorously as some traders had thought.

Data on Tuesday showed U.S. consumer confidence fell in May and a gauge of core U.S. inflation retreated on a year-over-year basis.

The lack of progress on tax cuts and other stimulus measures from Washington has also weighed on the outlook for company profits and broader economic activity, analysts said.

“There has been some softness in U.S. economic data, and there are some less market-friendly policies in the U.S. on the margin,” said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist with Russell Investments in New York.

Most Federal Reserve policymakers have not backed away from their expectations of two more rate increases by the end of 2017, as they see the U.S. economy near full employment and are confident inflation would reach the Fed’s 2 percent goal.

However, Fed Governor Lael Brainard said on Tuesday a rate hike may occur soon, while the central bank may want to refrain from further increases if inflation remains soft.

In Europe, elections in Italy may come as early as September after the 5-Star Movement became the fourth big party to back a switch to a proportional electoral system.

Greece’s debt problems also continued to simmer after it failed to reach a deal on the next installment of its bailout program earlier this month. [L8N1IW2OX]

Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 shed 0.22 percent at 1,533.66.

With worries about the United States and Europe, the yen strengthened against the dollar and euro. It was up 0.4 percent at 110.74 yen per dollar JPY=, and up 0.2 percent at 123.91 yen per euro EURJPY=.

Safety bids lowered the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield US10YT=RR to 2.212 percent, the lowest in more than a week, and the 10-year German yield DE10YT=RR was at 0.286 percent, the lowest in over five weeks.

In commodities markets, Brent crude LCOc1 was last down $0.45, or 0.86 percent, at $51.84 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 settled down 14 cents, or 0.28 percent, at $49.66 per barrel.

Spot gold prices XAU= were last 0.3 percent lower at $1,262.75 an ounce.