Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Monday, dragged by materials and energy stocks amid tumbling crude oil prices and persistent concerns that aggressive monetary tightening by major central banks could slow global growth. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.63 percent to 6,434.30, hovering near 19-month lows, while Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 1.65 percent to 25,534.68 in the morning session. South Korea's market lost 2.1 percent, and Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan declined between 0.9 and 1.0 percent each, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore were relatively flat. U.S. President Joe Biden stated that a U.S. recession is not inevitable and that the country is in a stronger position than any nation to overcome inflation. On Wall Street on Friday, the Nasdaq rose 1.4 percent, the S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent, but the Dow fell 0.1 percent to its lowest close since December 2020, and West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July settled down 6.8 percent at $109.56 a barrel.