In Asia, Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were up 0.09 percent at 22,960 while Osaka futures were off 0.34 percent at 22,860. Those compared to the benchmark index’s Monday close of 22,938.73.
Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.16 percent in early trade.
Shares of ANZ were up 0.47 percent in early morning trade following news that the bank would be selling its life insurance business to Zurich Financial Services Australia. ANZ said proceeds of the sale would total 2.85 billion Australian dollars ($2.15 billion).
Meanwhile, the dollar was steady against a basket of rivals, with the dollar index at 93.932 at 6:51 a.m. HK/SIN after sliding as low as 93.666 during the Monday session. Against the yen, the greenback was stable at 113.54.
The New Zealand dollar got a boost following an announcement that Adrian Orr would be appointed as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s governor. The Kiwi dollar traded at $0.6907 at 7:01 a.m. HK/SIN after popping as high as $0.6930 on Monday.
In commodity markets, oil prices rose to their highest levels in more than two years on news that Britain’s Forties Pipeline would be shut. The pipeline carries around 450,000 barrels a day of Forties crude from offshore fields in the North Sea to a processing plant in Scotland.
Brent crude futures gained 2 percent to settle at $64.69 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate settled 1 percent higher at $57.99.
