Elections in Germany and New Zealand are expected to be in focus during Monday’s Asian trading day.

The German election results on Sunday weighed on the euro, while New Zealand’s poll outcome pressured the Kiwi dollar.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party looked set to remain the largest party in the next German parliament, according to a Sunday exit poll. Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party, together with its sister-party the Christian Social Union, won 32.5 percent of the vote, broadcaster ARD’s exit poll showed. Merkel’s bloc is expected to form a coalition after achieving a poorer-than-expected result.

Meanwhile, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was expected to become the first far right party to enter the Bundestag since World War II, with an indicated 13.5 percent of the vote.

The euro slid on the developments. The common currency stood at $1.1922 at 6:53 a.m. HK/SIN compared with levels around $1.195 on Friday.

Elsewhere, the New Zealand election saw Prime Minister Bill English’s National Party win the most votes, although it came short of securing a majority in parliament. The Kiwi dollar was at $0.7306 as investors tracked coalition negotiations.

In Asia, futures implied Japanese equities would open a tad lower. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were off 0.13 percent at 20,270, and Osaka futures were down 0.48 percent at 20,200 at 6:16 a.m. HK/SIN. Both were below the Nikkei 225’s previous close of 20,296.45.

Meanwhile, Australian SPI futures were off 0.06 percent at 5,679 compared with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200’s Friday close of 5,682.137.

Stateside, U.S. equities closed mostly unchanged on Friday, but made gains on the week. The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 0.04 percent, or 9.64 points, to close at 22,349.59, the S&P 500 rose 0.06 percent, or 1.62 points, to close at 2,502.22, and the Nasdaq advanced 0.07 percent, or 4.23 points, to finish the session at 6,426.92.

In currencies, the pound stood at $1.3504 after Moody’s downgraded Britain’s sovereign credit rating over the weekend to Aa2 from Aa1, compared with as high as $1.3595 on Friday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s highly-anticipated Brexit speech in Florence on Friday had turned up few specifics as to what the transition period would look like before the U.K. left the EU completely.

On the energy front, oil prices rose on Friday after oil producers announced they could wait until next year to make a decision on output cut extensions. Brent crude gained 0.8 percent to settle at $56.86 a barrel and U.S. crude rose 0.2 percent to settle at $50.66.

Here’s the economic calendar for Monday (all times in HK/SIN):

• 12:00 p.m.: Thailand August trade
• 1:00 p.m.: Singapore August CPI

— CNBC’s Matt Clinch contributed to this report.