Asia-Pacific markets were subdued Tuesday, tracking Wall Street's sell-off after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his pressure campaign on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Japan's Nikkei 225 as well as the Topix were trading flat. South Korea's Kospi added 0.19% and the small-cap Kosdaq inched 0.16% higher.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.63%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.25%. Mainland China's CSI 300 slipped 0.17% at the open.
U.S. stock futures were nearly flat. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 18 points. Both the S&P 500 futures
and Nasdaq 100 futures also traded near the flatline.

Overnight in the U.S., the three major averages fell following Trump's attacks on Powell, raising questions about the central bank's independence, while traders received few signs of progress on global trade talks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 971.82 points, or 2.48% to close at 38,170.41. The S&P 500 shed 2.36% and ended at 5,158.20, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.55% to settle at 15,870.90.

Powell noted last week that the Fed's independence is a "matter of law." Markets are trying to weigh how serious the termination threat is, versus jawboning for lower rates, ANZ economists wrote.

Source: CNBC