Asian shares put up a lackluster showing early Monday following mixed global cues and with markets in Japan and Indonesia closed for public holidays.
Meanwhile, Greek lenders will reopen on Monday, albeit with some restrictions, amid tense bailout negotiations between Athens and its foreign creditors. Banks have been shuttered for three weeks since the end of June to prevent the system collapsing under a flood of withdrawals.
Wall Street ended mixed on Friday; A huge rally in Google took the Nasdaq Composite to a second straight record high, while lower energy prices weighed on the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500.
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed flat, while Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 index and the German DAX ended the day 0.3 percent lower.
Mainland markets choppy
China's benchmark Shanghai Composite flitted between gains and losses at the open, with the shares of property heavyweights reacting to the latest set of housing data over the weekend.
Home prices in the mainland rose for a second month in a row in June, on a monthly basis, indicating that government efforts to boost the struggling property sector have started to gain traction.
However, China Vanke and Poly Real Estate sagged 0.7 and 0.6 percent, respectively, in Shanghai. By contrast, China Vanke climbed 0.8 percent in Hong Kong, while China Overseas Land and Investment and China Resources Land gained 0.6 percent each.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong-listed Macau Legend Development slumped 3 percent after announcing its expectations for a record loss for the six months to June, outpacing the broader Hang Seng index which opened flat.
ASX flat
Australian equities treaded water on Monday, held back by weaker commodity prices.
BHP Billiton tanked 1.2 percent, while Santos shaved off 1 percent after energy prices remained downbeat in early Asian trade. Newcrest Mining receded more than 7 percent as gold prices hit a fresh five-year low.
Major lenders on the S&P ASX 200 index recovered from a mixed open sparked by the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority's (APRA) decision to increase the amount of bank capital for residential mortgage loans. The regulator announced early Monday it will raise the bank capital requirements for home loans to at least 25 percent, from 16 percent currently, starting July 2016.
Australia and New Zealand Banking, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank elevated between 0.1 and 1 percent, while Westpac Banking slipped 0.1 percent.
Kospi flat
South Korea's Kospi index reversed marginal losses to edge up above the flatline.
The heaviest weighted stock, Samsung Electronics, trimmed losses to 0.7 percent, helping the bourse to recover slightly. Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries extended losses to plunge more than 2 percent each, after a majority of the former's shareholders approved a merger with its sister company on Friday.
Shares of both companies plummeted 10.4 and 7.7 percent, respectively, in the previous session.
Outperforming the bourse, chemicals and battery maker LG Chem climbed 2.7 percent after announcing a 56 percent rise in second-quarter net profit on Friday.
Straits Times gains 0.4 percent
Singapore shares drifted higher in early trade, helped by a 7.4 percent jump in shares of Neptune Orient Lines.
The company's stock soared as much as 10 percent to hit a six-week high at the open, after people familiar with the matter said last week Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings has put the shipping company up for sale.
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