Japan's Nikkei share average trimmed a bulk of its earlier losses and steadied on Tuesday, as the impact from a slide in U.S. technology shares eased.
The Nikkei inched down 0.05 percent to 19,898.75.
The index was confined to a narrow range ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting that ends on Wednesday, at which the central bank is expected to raise interest rates.
The broader Topix edged up 0.1 percent to 1,593.51 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 rose 0.1 percent to 14,190.22. (Reporting by the Tokyo markets team; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)