Asian stocks pulled back from a seven-year peak scaled on Tuesday as sentiment gave way to caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy two-day meeting scheduled to start later in the session.
The dollar took back some of its losses against the euro which rose overnight on optimism for progress in debt-laden Greece's ongoing negotiations with creditors.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down about 0.3 percent after earlier touching its highest level since January 2008.
Japan's Nikkei stock index advanced 0.3 percent as on hopes of better shareholder returns after index heavyweight Fanuc Corp doubled its dividend payout ratio.
Wall Street Lower
On Monday, Wall Street ended lower after the benchmark S&P 500 index hit a record intraday high before reversing course, tempered by caution ahead the Fed meeting.
Analysts expected no change in policy stance from the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting starting later on Tuesday, as recent domestic data have been weaker than forecast and a strong dollar has crimped export activities.
Market expectations for an interest rate increase have been pushed further down the road, with few investors now expecting a rate hike in June and most predicting a move later this year.