With few sparks to drive buying, markets took their cue from Wall Street, where the main indexes slipped after an eight-day advance, with focus on a speech Friday by central bank boss Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming.
After a hefty retreat at the start of the month -- caused by a weak US jobs report that fanned recession fears -- investors have rediscovered their buying mojo, with speculation rife that the Fed will begin easing monetary policy at its September meeting.
Data showing inflation easing, retail sales remaining healthy and the jobs market softening -- but not too quickly -- have reinforced a long-running view that bank officials are on course to guide the economy to a soft landing and avert a recession.
With bets now baked into a reduction, speculation is now focused on how many are in the pipeline and how big they will be, with some suggesting as much as 100 basis points before the end of the year.
Its forecast rate cut would come as central banks around the world begin easing after years of battling soaring inflation.
Sweden on Tuesday announced its second this year, while New Zealand last week moved for the first time since early 2020. The Bank of England and European Central Bank have also moved, and are eyeing more before January.
And while traders are taking a step back for now, observers are optimistic that with more rate reductions on the way, equities have further to go.
"There were no major catalysts for the retreat, but after several days of gains, taking a breather seems like a reasonable outcome," said National Australia Bank's Rodrigo Catril.
All three main indexes on Wall Street dipped, having come within distance of their record highs.
And the losses filtered through to Asia.
Hong Kong was among the big losers as tech firms took a hit, with e-commerce titan JD.com tumbling more than 11 percent after a Bloomberg report said US retail behemoth Walmart planned to unload $3.7 billion of shares in the firm at a discount.
Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and Taipei also retreated, though Manila and Jakarta eked out gains.
On currency markets the dollar remained pinned down by rate cut expectations, with the yen helped by talk of another Bank of Japan hike.
The turmoil on markets in early August was partly caused by the BoJ's surprise lift, which came soon after the Fed indicated it was set to cut -- that caused a huge unwind of the so-called carry trade in which dealers use the cheap yen to buy higher-yielding assets.
"While most central banks are expected to reduce their policy rates by mid-2025, the BoJ is anticipated to pursue a modest increase," said ACY Securities' Luca Santos.
"This divergence in policy trajectories suggests a limited likelihood of a significant resurgence in yen carry trades."
Gold held above $2,520, having broken to a record high above $2,530 Tuesday on Fed rate cut bets that would make the metal more attractive to investors.
- Key figures around 0230 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 37,805.35 (break)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.8 percent at 17,365.36
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 2,858.02
Dollar/yen: UP at 145.33 yen from 145.20 yen on Tuesday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1123 from $1.1129
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3026 from $1.3034
Euro/pound: UP at 85.39 pence from 85.38 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $73.02 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $77.08 per barrel
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 40,834.97 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.0 percent at 8,273.32 points (close)
dan/fox
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