Australian shares dip, Japan's Nikkei down over global cue

Asian shares got off to a subdued start on Tuesday as investors braced for key events later in the week, including the kick-off of the U.S. earnings season and a crucial Brexit summit, while broader concerns over slowing global growth checked sentiment. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was basically flat after brushing its highest since late August last year during the previous session.

Australian shares dipped 0.25 per cent while Japan's Nikkei was down 0.15 per cent. Wall Street shares delivered a mixed performance on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.3 per cent while the S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent. Concerns over slowing U.S. earnings have undermined U.S. equities in recent sessions, though a strong jobs report last week helped to soothe frayed nerves.

The S&P 500, however, moved on its own momentum for its eighth straight session of gains and the longest winning streak since October 2017, as rallying crude prices lifted energy shares. Oil prices rose to their highest since November, driven by fighting in Libya along with ongoing supply cuts pledged by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.

Broader market sentiment remained subdued as investors' focus was on potential flashpoints, including a crucial Brexit summit as well as a meeting on trade between the European Union and China set for later on Tuesday. "The market is very much in a wait-and-watch mode," said Nick Twidale, chief operating officer at Rakuten Securities Australia in Sydney.

"It's looking for the next catalyst that's hopefully going to take stock markets higher, but it's also very wary that we've had such a great run in stocks and general growth that we might see a real sharp correction," he said. Twidale added that any news on the trade front around the Sino-U.S. tariff negotiations and the upcoming summit between the EU and China "could really start to add to some volatility" to markets.

Investors will also focus on a European Central Bank meeting on Wednesday and the start in earnest of the U.S. first-quarter earnings period, with analysts now expecting it to be the first quarter of contracting corporate earnings since 2016. U.S. March inflation figures and minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting are due to be released on Wednesday. Friday's U.S. jobs report showed strong employment creation but subdued wages growth, backing the Fed's recent dovish policy tilt.

In the currency market, the euro held steady at $1.1259 after rising nearly 0.4 per cent overnight, its steepest one-day rise in nearly three weeks. Sterling was slightly higher at $1.3068, but not far from last month's low of $1.2945.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was down 0.1 per cent at 111.35 yen, inching back toward its 1-1/2-month low of 109.70 touched on March 25. In the commodity market, oil prices hovered near their highest since November 2018 on persistent worries about tightening supplies.

U.S. crude was last up 21 cents at $64.61 a barrel, after brushing its highest since Nov. 1 last year. Brent crude futures rose 8 cents to $71.18. Spot gold was up slightly at $1,299.10 per ounce. 

(With inputs from agencies.)