European markets opened in negative territory on Monday in what will be the region’s last full trading session this year.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell about 0.4% shortly after the opening bell, with all sectors and major exchanges in negative territory. Industrial, media and technology stocks led the losses.

Trading in Europe is expected to be subdued on Monday as markets prepare for the lull ahead of the New Year holidays.

Over the weekend, Robert Holzmann, a member of the ECB’s Governing Council, told the Austrian newspaper Kurier that the institution could slow its interest rate cutting campaign due to stubborn inflation.

“Right now I don’t see any rate increases,” he said. “What can happen, however, is that it will take longer until the next interest rate cut.”

His comments came as Italian lawmakers approved their government’s 2025 budget plan, which aims to bring the country’s budget deficit closer to 3% to comply with EU rules.

In an interview published on Saturday, France’s newly appointed Finance Minister Eric Lombard told news agency La Tribune Dimanche that the country’s upcoming draft budget for 2025 targets a deficit of just over 5%, according to a translation by Reuters news agency.

In terms of economic data, Spain will release its latest inflation figures on Monday and Turkey will update its economic confidence index.

In Asia, stocks were mixed overnight as investors monitored political unrest in South Korea as well as industrial data from the country. Japan also released economic data earlier in the week that showed the decline in factory activity slowed this month.

Korean airline stocks fell on Monday following the Jeju Air plane crash that killed 179 people a day earlier, and Jeju Air’s share price hit an all-time low.

— Lee Ying Shan of CNBC and Reuters contributed to this roundup of European markets.

South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok has ordered the Transportation Ministry to conduct an emergency safety inspection of the country’s flight operations system, local news agency Yonhap reported on Monday.

Choi was speaking at a disaster management meeting in Seoul after a Jeju Air plane crashed at the country’s Muan International Airport on Sunday, resulting in 179 deaths and only two survivors, making it the deadliest aviation accident in South Korea.

“The pilot declared the flight a day of rest after issuing the bird strike alert,” said Joo Jong-wan, director of the aviation policy department at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Choi vowed that the government would “spare no effort” to support the bereaved and declared a seven-day mourning period for the country.

At a press conference on Sunday, Song Kyung-hoon, head of Jeju Air’s management support office, said the airline would support the victims and their families and that the plane was covered by $1 billion in insurance, Yonhap reported.

Addressing reports that a bird strike was the cause of the crash, Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae neither confirmed nor denied it.

“At present, the exact cause of the accident has yet to be determined, and we must wait for the official investigation by government authorities,” Kim said in a statement on Sunday.

Song rejected allegations that mechanical failures or inadequate safety precautions played a role in the crash.

“This crash is not about maintenance issues. There can be absolutely no compromise when it comes to aircraft maintenance,” Song said.

A Jeju Air plane reportedly returned to Gimpo International Airport shortly after takeoff on Monday because a similar problem was discovered with the plane’s landing gear.

The accident comes at a politically difficult time for South Korea.

Choi is the country’s second incumbent president in a month. He took on the role after incumbent President Han Duck-soon was impeached by lawmakers on Friday for refusing to appoint three judges to the Constitutional Court, which is hearing the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Yoon was charged just weeks ago after declaring six hours of martial law earlier this month for the first time since the 1979 military coup.

Jeju Air shares hit an all-time low on Monday and were last down 8.53%, according to FactSet data. Shares of other Korean airlines were volatile.

Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on the penultimate trading day this year after Wall Street fell on Friday.

South Korea Kospi fell 0.3%, while the Kosdaq lost 0.41% on Monday as the country grapples with political unrest and poor industrial data, among other issues.

South Korea suffered its worst air disaster on Sunday, killing 179 people when a Jeju Air plane crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport and burst into flames.

South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok ordered an urgent safety inspection of the country’s air operations system to be carried out once recovery efforts from the Jeju Air crash are completed.

Jeju Air shares hit an all-time low on Monday and were last down 8.53%, according to FactSet data. Shares of other Korean airlines were volatile. Korean Air fell 1%, while budget carriers T’way Air and Jin Air fell 3.23% and 2.12%, respectively. Air Busan rose over 13%.

South Korea’s industrial production contracted 0.7% on a monthly basis in November, more than the 0.4% decline expected by Reuters. On an annual basis, industrial production rose 0.1%, falling short of Reuters expectations of a 0.4% rise. In comparison, the increase in October was 6.3%.

The country’s parliament voted to impeach incumbent President Han Duck-soo on Dec. 27, not long after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached over his brief martial law decree that plunged the country into political unrest.

Japan Nikkei 225 fell 0.76% while the Topix fell 0.30%

Japan’s factory activity contracted more slowly in December. Jibun Bank Japan’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 49.6 in December, slightly above November’s reading of 49.0 and marking the weakest decline in three months. However, the value remained below the threshold of 50 that separates an expansion from a contraction.

“The headline reading moved closer to neutral as both production and new orders declined more moderately,” said Usamah Bhatti of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.4% lower.

Traders await China’s manufacturing PMI on Tuesday, while markets will remain closed on Wednesday for the Lunar New Year holiday.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday, led by technology stocks, but major indexes still rose for the week.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 333.59 points, or 0.77%, to 42,992.21, falling for the first time in six sessions. The S&P 500 fell 1.11% to 5,970.84. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.49% to 19,722.03, while Tesla fell about 5% and Nvidia fell 2%.

—CNBC’s Yun Li and Pia Singh contributed to this report.