Chinese shares led Asian markets higher on Monday while the price of Brent crude plummeted to 11-year lows on renewed worries over a global oil glut.
European shares are expected to go the other way with spreadbetters forecasting a down opening on Britain's FTSE 100 and France's CAC40 with Germany's DAX to start the day 0.5 percent lower.
Brent crude futures fell as low as $36.17 a barrel, the lowest since 2004 as production around the world remained at or near record highs and the dollar remained strong following last week's U.S. rate increase.
China's CSI300 index zoomed up 2.9 percent and the Shanghai Composite jumped 2 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng followed the Chinese market's lead and climbed 0.4 percent.
More Nikkei Losses
Australia's main index ended the day little changed while Japan's Nikkei extended losses from Friday to close down 0.4 percent.
Last week, the Bank of Japan announced some changes to its massive stimulus program sending the yen higher and causing some wild swings against the dollar.
According to Bernard Aw, market strategist at IG in Singapore, "As we head into the final two weeks of the year, the limited year-end liquidity will be something to keep a watch on. Today, we have not much in the way of market-moving data for Asia, so market players will likely be sitting on the sidelines and trying to search for clarity."
The dollar slipped 0.1 percent to 98.619 against a basket of currencies in very light trade, and the euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.0877.