On Monday MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trade, after rising 1.6 percent last week. Asian Indices were trading firm on China GDP delivered as expected , underlining the urgent need for more stimulus as Beijing wrestles with the United States over trade. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the world's second-largest economy to have grown 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, matching levels last seen in early 2009 during the global financial crisis.
E-Mini future for the S&P 500 were 0.1% lower, though trade was light with the U.S. on holiday.
China is expected to report that economic growth cooled to its slowest in 28 years in 2018 in the face of weakening domestic demand and bruising U.S. tariffs.
That could pull 2018 gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 6.6 percent, the lowest since 1990 and down from a revised 6.8 percent in 2017.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday there has been progress toward a trade deal with China, but denied that he was considering lifting tariffs.
Over in Britain, May will return to parliament on Monday to set out how she plans to try to break the Brexit deadlock after her deal was rejected by lawmakers last week.
May told ministers on Sunday she was looking for ways to make the so-called Northern Irish backstop more acceptable to her Conservative Party and Northern Irish allies.
In commodity markets, spot gold was steady at $1,282.80 per ounce.
Oil prices eased Monday after jumping about 3% on Friday as OPEC detailed specifics on its production-cut activity to ease global oversupply. Brent crude up 1 cents to $62.63 a barrel. U.S. crude futures fell 9 cents to $53.95 a barrel.
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