On Wednesday, US time, the US central bank, the Fed, will present its interest rate decision. Wall Street closed Monday with negative figures on all three leading indexes, albeit without any dramatic figures.
The major Asian indices followed the pattern in early trading and stuck to small movements.
The Shanghai Composite Index had fallen 0.1 percent by lunchtime, while Shenzhen remained around zero.
Slightly clearer movements were seen in the South Korean Kospi and Hong Kong-based Hang Seng, which fell 0.6 and 0.8 percent respectively.
Japanese indices bucked the negative trend and moved slightly higher. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.3 percent while the broader Topix index rose 0.1 percent.
