Asian shares started the week on a subdued note as investors fretted a U.S.-led trade war could disrupt economic growth momentum while euro pared gains as Italian exit polls pointed to a hung parliament.
Italy's poll produced no outright winner on Sunday, according to exit polls, with voters backing anti-establishment and far-right parties in record numbers, Reuters reported.
News over the weekend that U.S. President Donald Trump was going ahead with planned tariffs on imported steel and aluminum hurt sentiment.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat near the lowest since mid-February.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent Friday, recouping declines of as much as 1.1 percent.
Back home, SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50's trend in India, signals a positive start for the domestic markets after the benchmark Sensex declined 137 points or 0.40 percent to close at 34,046 on Thursday.
The partially convertible rupee closed at 65.17 on Thursday, up 0.01 percent from its previous close of 65.18.
So far this year, the rupee weakened 1.5 percent, while foreign investors have bought $507 million and $1.4 billion in equity and debt markets, respectively.
Indian financial, currency and debt markets were shut on Friday for a public holiday.
China GDP: China on Monday kept its 2018 economic growth target of around 6.5 percent. The outlook was released ahead of Premier Li Keqiang's report to the National People's Congress gathering in Beijing.
Crude check: Brent crude gained 0.19 percent at $64.72 per barrel while the West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6 percent at $61.61 a barrel.
