Asian indices do not appear to be taking their cue from Wall Street, which saw broad gains on Monday.
In Tokyo, Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.7 percent, while the Topix fell 0.6 percent.
South Korea's Kospi is also showing a subdued trend and has hovered around zero in morning trading. At lunchtime, the index is down 0.1 percent.
In China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is down 0.1 percent, while Shenzhen is up 2.2 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 0.6 percent.
Brent crude is up about 1 percent and the October futures contract is trading at $84.75 per barrel, according to CNBC .
