1. U.S. Markets closed for holiday

Trading activity was likely to stay light on Monday as markets in the U.S. remain closed for President’s Day.

In Europe, stocks started the week on a positive footing, with Germany's DAX up 0.6%, as investors eyed earnings and focused on corporate news.

Earlier, in Asia, markets ended the day largely higher, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing up around 1.2%, while Japan's Nikkei edged up about 0.1%.

2. Dollar is little changed

The dollar was little changed against a basket of the other major currencies on Monday, lacking direction as market players awaited further hints on the timing of the next U.S. rate hike.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 100.85 in early New York morning trade, almost unchanged for the day.

In the week ahead, global financial markets will focus on minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting as well as housing-related data for more clues on the timing of the next U.S. rate hike.

Fed fund futures priced in a less than 15% chance of a rate hike in March. Odds of a June increase was seen at around 70%.

3. European politics sets the tone

Developments in the French presidential election remained in focus after weekend talks aimed at finding a leftist unity candidate for France's presidential election showed little sign of progress.

News that Socialist Benoit Hamon and hard-left rival Jean-Luc Melanchon were discussing cooperation in their bid for the presidency rattled markets on Friday.

Investors believe such a tie-up could possibly knock centrist Emmanuel Macron out of the race in the first round and propel far-right, anti-globalization candidate Marine Le Pen into the Elysee palace.

Over in Germany, the center-left Social Democrats moved ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats in an opinion poll by the Emnid institute for the first time since 2006, Bild am Sonntag said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi resigned as head of the ruling Democratic Party on Sunday, opening the way for a leadership fight in which he will take on rivals threatening to split the center-left.

Investors were also keeping an eye on a Monday meeting of euro zone finance ministers, who were expected to discuss a deadlock over Greece’s bailout.

4. Japan export growth disappoint

Japan's exports rose in January at a slower pace than the previous month due to a decline in shipments to the U.S. and the Lunar New Year holidays and as concerns about growing trade protectionism cast doubts over the outlook.

Exports in January rose 1.3% from the same period a year ago, below forecasts for a 4.7% annual increase and slower than a 5.4% year-on-year increase in December.

Meanwhile, imports into the world's third largest economy posted their first increase since December 2014, rising 8.5%, as oil prices rose.

That left the country with a trade deficit of 1.087 trillion yen, compared to expectations for a deficit of 637.0 billion yen.