Nikkei 225, Hang Seng Index, Kospi, gold, Canada

On Sunday stateside, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that his country has no intention of pursuing a free trade agreement with China, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Ottawa if it signed a trade deal with China.

“Canada respects our engagements, our commitments. We have commitments under CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) that not to pursue free trade agreements with non-market economies without prior notification. We have no intention of doing that with China or with other non-market economy,” Carney said.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 1.72% to 52,885.25 while the Topix declined 2.13% to 3,552.49. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.81% to 4,949.59 while the small-cap Kosdaq jumped over 7% to end the trading day at 1,064.41.

The Japanese yen last strengthened 0.93% to trade about 154.21 against the dollar.

Investors will continue keeping a close eye on Japanese stocks and the yen after Japan’s prime minister signaled to counter speculative market activity on a sharp yen strengthening Friday, warning that authorities stand ready to act if volatility intensifies.

“The yen rallied on rising risk of intervention, with spillovers to the broad USD. While a cautiously hawkish stance from the FOMC along with resilient data should offer some support, a potential yen intervention can aggravate a weak flow picture for the dollar,” Barclays’ economists wrote in a note on Sunday.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index slid 0.26%, while mainland’s CSI 300 traded flat to close at 4,706.96.

Australia markets are closed for the holiday.

Spot gold prices rose to a record high above $5,000 per ounce as investors rushed to safe-haven assets amid geopolitical uncertainties, also helped by a weaker greenback. The U.S. dollar index fell 0.52% to 90.087.

Separately, the Singapore dollar strengthened to 1.271 per dollar, its highest in over a decade.

U.S. futures traded lower on Monday as traders braced for a big week, with key earnings reports and a U.S. monetary policy meeting.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 131 points, or 0.27%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures shed 0.33% and 0.48%, respectively.

Last Friday in the U.S., the main benchmarks closed mixed, as the Nasdaq Composite extended its gains amid easing geopolitical fears while the Dow Jones Industrial Average underperformed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.28% and settled at 23,501.24, while the blue-chip Dow lost 285.30 points, or 0.58%, closing at 49,098.71. A nearly 4% slide in Goldman Sachs weighed on the 30-stock index.

The broad market S&P 500 eked out a marginal gain of 0.03% to end at 6,915.61.

—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.

Correction: A prior version of this story stated that Australian markets were trading.