People celebrate the New Year at a ceremony at the Juyongguan Great Wall section, also known as Juyong Pass, in Beijing, China, January 1, 2026.
Maxim Shemetov | Reuters
Asia-Pacific markets are set to open lower Monday, as investors assessed threats from the Trump administration toward Greenland over the weekend and looked toward key economic data from China.
Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders exchanged tense rhetoric over the Arctic territory, with Trump threatening tariffs on eight European countries and demanding control of Greenland, which is part of Denmark.
European leaders responded by calling the threats “completely wrong” and “unacceptable.”
Over in Asia, China will release its fourth-quarter GDP numbers, along with December figures for retail sales, urban investment and industrial output.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 26,640, lower than the HSI’s last close of 26,844.96.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a weaker open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 53,675 and its counterpart in Osaka at 53,720 compared to the previous close of 53,936.17.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day marginally down.
On Friday in the U.S., the S&P 500 ended just below the flatline and posted a losing week, while the Nasdaq Composite also inched down 0.06%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.17%.
The three major indexes hit their session lows after Trump said in the White House on Friday that he’d rather have National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett stay in his current role and that he might not be chosen to become the next U.S. Fed chair.
Hassett has been seen as the more market-friendly option to replace current Fed chair than the new frontrunner nominee, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, and is expected to be more willing to keep rates low.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
