Asia-Pacific markets opened mostly lower on Monday (3/24) as U.S. President Donald Trump's April 2 tariff deadline looms.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.37%.

South Korea's Kospi fell 0.36%, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.05%. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.28% at the open while the Topix gained 0.13%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng futures last traded at 23,657, lower than the HSI's last close of 23,689.72. Over the weekend, Chinese Premier Li Qiang warned of "rising instability" and called on countries to open up markets and businesses.

U.S. stock futures were higher, signaling that equities could extend their recent gains.

On Friday in the U.S., all three major indexes closed higher. The indexes bounced off their lows after Trump said there would be some "flexibility" on tariffs. But he reiterated an April 2 deadline for reciprocal tariffs.

The S&P 500 rose 0.08% to close at 5,667.56, edging into positive territory to end a four-week losing streak fueled by trade policy turmoil, recession fears and a shift in large-cap technology stocks. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.52% to close at 17,784.05, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 32.03 points, or 0.08%, to close at 41,985.35. (Newsmaker23)

Source: CNBC