European shares will likely trade lower

European equities are expected to open lower on the first day of the final trading week for 2015.

In Asia, shares traded mixed on Monday and markets in Canada, Australia and Ireland are also closed as markets enter the final trading week of the year. .  (Nikkei 225: +0.38 %; Hang Seng: -0.41 %; S&P/ASX 200: Closed; Shanghai Composite: -0.20 %; Topix: +0.82 %) The overall situation is that investors buy the shares at the time the largest decline. Currencies are traded in narrow ranges with minimal activity after the holidays. AUD fell, but still within the two-week maximum. JPY dropped because data from Japan, industrial production and consumer spending, which proved to be weaker than expected.

Trading is expected to be quieter in Europe following the Christmas holiday.

Oil prices remain in focus. Last week, U.S. crude futures posted their biggest weekly gain since early October, tacking on 9.7 percent for the holiday-shortened trading week.

In business news, the Alter union, which represents a minority of pilots at Air France, warned on Saturday it would call a new strike on Jan. 10 to Jan. 13, if the management did not end a disciplinary procedure regarding two pilots involved in violent protests that took place in October, Reuters reported.

On December 24 in Italy, the Monte dei Paschi bank signed an agreement with labor unions to reduce the wages of 180 top executives by 2.5 percent, Fabi union said in a statement on Saturday, adding this deal spreads more evenly the burden of cost cutting measures required by the European Central Bank as part of its restructuring plan, Reuters reported.

There are no major earnings or data releases on Monday.