Overnight

The dollar softened a bit against the yen from its recent high after the Fed last week noted higher interest rates are in the offing sometime this summer. Against the yen, the dollar slipped 0.3 percent to 110.83. But it rose to as high as 111.455 in the previous session, its loftiest peak in a month, and was on track to notch a gain of 4 percent in May, Reuters reported. With the U.S. And UK markets closed Monday volume was expected to be lighter as investors looked to the EU action.

The Nikkei dropped 0.3% after a strong 1.4% rally in the previous session. The MSCI's broadest index outside Japan remained flat, ending the month down 2% for the month. In later trading, the Nikkei 225 edged up 0.49% while the Kospi was up 0.39%. In China, mainland markets were performing better, with the Shanghai Composite up 2.12 percent and the Shenzhen composite up 2.418 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was 0.94 percent higher. Japanese household spending fell for second straight month in April, 0.4%, after dropping 5.3% the previous month according to a report released Tuesday.

The Nikkei 225 was up 0.49 percent after trading flat earlier in the session, while Australia's ASX 200 was 0.42 percent lower, weighed by its energy subindex, which shed 1.35 percent, but that follows a 5.6 percent gain over the past. Brent crude trade at $49.67 a barrel