European markets opened lower while Asian markets were mostly higher on Monday as the week got off to a mixed start.

U.S. markets will be closed for Martin Luther King Day, a holiday.

Germany's economy shrank 0.3% last year as Europe's former powerhouse struggled with more expensive energy, higher interest rates, lack of skilled labor and a homegrown budget crisis.

Europe's largest economy has been mired in stagnation since the last months of 2022 amid those multiple challenges. The International Monetary Fund expected Germany to be the worst-performing major developed economy last year, a major turnaround from its place as a model for how to expand when other nations were struggling.

The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

Oxfam, which for years has been trying to highlight the growing disparities between the super-rich and the bulk of the global population during the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, reckons the gap has been "supercharged" since the coronavirus pandemic.

The Earth is heating up, as is conflict in the Middle East. The world economy and Ukraine's defense against Russia are sputtering along. Artificial intelligence could upend all our lives.

The to-do list of global priorities has grown for this year's edition of the World Economic Forum's gabfest of business, political and other elites in the Alpine snows of Davos, Switzerland, which runs Tuesday through Friday.

Higher energy and housing prices boosted overall U.S. inflation in December, a sign that the Federal Reserve's drive to slow inflation to its 2% target will likely remain a bumpy one.

Thursday's report from the Labor Department showed that overall prices rose 0.3% from November and 3.4% from 12 months earlier. Those gains exceeded the previous 0.1% monthly rise and the 3.1% annual inflation in November. The December figures came in slightly above economists' forecasts.

Americans of various racial backgrounds largely agree that the government should focus on the economy and foreign policy issues in 2024, but recent polling shows that views among racial groups diverge on some high-profile topics, including racism and immigration.

About 7 in 10 U.S. adults across racial backgrounds — including white, Black, Hispanic and Asian adults — name issues related to the economy in an open-ended question that asks people to share up to five topics they would like the government to prioritize in 2024, making it the most commonly mentioned issue for each group, as well as for U.S. adults overall at 76%.

A union representing many of Germany's train drivers started a nearly three-day strike early Wednesday in a rancorous dispute with the country's state-owned main railway operator over working hours and pay.

Train travel across the country and in many cities came to a near standstill with commuters and other travelers struggling to find alternatives involving long-distance bus or car travel or flights.

Germany's last remaining major department store chain filed for insolvency protection on Tuesday, its third filing in less than four years, after its owner ran into difficulties.

Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, which currently runs 92 stores and employs more than 15,000 people, said it filed for insolvency at a court in Essen, German news agency dpa reported. The company is seeking a new owner and talks with potential investors are already underway.

European markets opened lower on Tuesday after a mixed session in Asia, where Tokyo's benchmark closed at a 33-year high.

Germany's DAX fell 0.4% to 16,654.65 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.2% to 7,433.01. Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower to 7,688.41.

Wall Street pointed lower before the opening bell Monday following its worst week since Halloween.

Futures for the S&P 500 were unchanged, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4%.