Regional stocks took their cues from Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped further after Wednesday's frenetic selling
The US dollar was broadly firm, with traders watching out for an inflation reading on Friday and Federal Reserve meeting next week
Investors seemed well-prepared for news that US President Joe Biden had dropped out of the election race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic ticket
A slowdown in hiring and small uptick in unemployment is forecast, would leave open the door for US rate cuts
The US is back on a disinflationary path, Powell said on Tuesday, although he cautioned that policymakers need more data
Asian markets were little fazed by the first US presidential debate between Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump ahead of the November election
Shares in bellwether chipmaker Micron Technology slid 8 per cent in US after-hours trade as it met rather than topped lofty revenue expectations. Japan's Nikkei fell 1 per cent.
Risk sentiment was also capped as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials kept near-term US rate cut expectations in check in a boost to the dollar
Asian shares were mostly lower Monday after US stocks coasted to the close of their latest winning week on Friday, even as Nvidia's stock cooled further from its startling, supernova run. US futures and oil prices dropped. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.7 per cent to 38,869.94, making it the sole major benchmark in Asia to post gains on Monday. The yen weakened to 159.93 per dollar during morning trading. Minutes of the Japanese central bank's last policy meeting released Monday put the yen under renewed pressure as it indicated that Any change in the policy interest rate should be considered only after economic indicators confirm that, for example, the CPI inflation rate has clearly started to rebound and medium-to long-term inflation expectations have risen. Meanwhile, it was reported that Masato Kanda from the Minister of Finance said officials are ready to intervene to support the currency at any time. Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.2 per cent to 17,815.42,
Foreign investors, who helped push up Japanese shares to a record high just a few months ago and beat overseas peers, became net sellers for a fourth straight week through June 14
Apart from the BoE, investors will also watch out for central bank decisions from Switzerland and Norway on Thursday to set the tone for global rates outlook
The main market focus in Asian hours on Tuesday was on the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) policy decision, where expectations are for the central bank to stand pat on rates
There was also talk the People's Bank of China (PBOC) could cut a key lending rate by 10 basis points, in part due to surprisingly weak bank lending data released on Friday
The dollar was hovering near a one-month high on the back of the hawkish tone from the Fed this week
Japanese shares underperformed and the yen inched down against the dollar, as the Bank of Japan began its two-day policy meeting
European markets are also set to open slightly higher, with EUROSTOXX 50 futures up 0.3 per cent and the FTSE futures gaining 0.4 per cent
Investor worries of a cooling US economy, however, kept a lid on risk appetite, while the focus in Asia is on how Indian markets fare after stocks sank and the rupee slid
In Europe, investors expect the European Central Bank on Thursday to cut the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 per cent
Investors are a lot less dovish on the Fed, seeing little prospect of a move until September and even that is far from a done deal
A downward revision to consumer spending meant the US economy grew more slowly than expected in the first quarter, data showed on Thursday