Asian shares were little changed on Wednesday after four straight days of losses amidst caution ahead of a key Federal Reserve policy meeting.
Stocks have come under pressure recently on worries over a global trade war and a Facebook Inc data breach after it released the personal data of 50 million users to an analytics firm that helped elect U.S. President Donald Trump.
Investors are also worried Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports could escalate into a full-blown trade war if China and other countries retaliate with similar or harsher measures.
The focus now turns to Jerome Powell's first Federal Reserve Market Committee meeting. Strengthening labor market and a steady increase in price pressures could pave the way for the central bank to raise interest rates in the upcoming meeting.
The CME FedWatch tool currently places the likelihood of a 25 basis point hike at 91.6 percent, one fully worked in for the markets.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was barely changed in the morning trading. Japan's Nikkei was closed for a local holiday.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index rose 0.5 percent while the S&P 500 lifted by 0.2 percent.
Back home, SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50's trend in India, signals a flat start for the domestic markets after the benchmark Sensex rose 73 points or 0.22 percent to close at 32,996 on Tuesday.
The partially convertible rupee ended at 65.20 on Tuesday, down 0.02 percent from its previous close of 65.18.
So far this year, the rupee weakened 1.8 percent, while foreign investors have bought $1.4 billion in equity and $317 million in debt market.
Policy meetings: The Bank of England will meet on Thursday, where it's expected to keep interest rates and its asset-purchase program unchanged. New Zealand also has a monetary policy decision on the same day.
Crude check: Brent crude, the benchmark for more than half the world's oil, rose 0.44 percent at $67.72 per barrel while the West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.46 percent at $63.83 a barrel, on Wednesday morning.
