Asian shares were capped on Tuesday by caution over weak global growth data, but renewed hopes for a steady U.S. recovery propelled Japanese equities to a near five-year peak.
European stock markets were seen tracking Asian shares lower, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100 , Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX would open flat to down as much as 0.3%.
U.S. stock futures were down 0.1%, suggesting a softer Wall Street open after the Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed at a record high overnight.
The boost to riskier assets after a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data on Friday has given in to profit taking, reflecting a lack of investor confidence in broader economic prospects.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1%, struggling to gain after hitting a 2-1/2-month high on Monday when market sentiment was buoyed by the U.S. monthly employment report.
The main focus for Asia was the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy meeting, at which the bank decided to lower its cash rate by 25 basis points to a record low 2.75%.
Markets had priced in a 50-50 chance of a rate cut, and the decision sent the Australian dollar down to a two-month low of $1.0810 but helped Australian shares trim earlier losses. Australian shares were last down 0.2%.
The next key event for the region will be a slew of April data from the world's second-largest economy, China, starting with trade on Wednesday, inflation on Thursday and money supply and loan growth expected from Friday.
Hong Kong and China shares lingered at multi-week highs in choppy trade as investors rotated out of recent outperformers ahead of upcoming Chinese data.
South Korean shares fell 0.3%, led by automakers, and weighed by caution ahead of Thursday's policy decision by the Bank of Korea as well as a weaker yen.
Japan's Nikkei stock average, however, soared 3.7% to rise above 14,000 for the first time since June 2008, helped by signs of resilience in the United States, Japan's top export market.
Japanese markets were closed on Friday and on Monday for holidays.
COMMODITIES MIXED
London copper was up 0.3% at $7,290.25 a tonne, after earlier hitting a three-week high of $7,374 on signs the U.S. economy was in a better shape than earlier thought and hopes demand from top consumer China may pick up.
U.S. crude futures slid 0.6% to $95.56 a barrel and Brent fell 0.4% at $105.06.
Spot gold eased 0.3% to $1,464.96 an ounce, weighed by continuing ouflows in holdings at SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, which hit their lowest since August 2009.
The euro inched up 0.1% to $1.3087, after it fell on Monday when European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank, which cut interest rates last week, is watching economic data and is ready to take further action if needed.
The dollar was off 0.2% against the yen at 99.16 , possibly readying to test the symbolic 100 yen level again. The dollar hit a four-year high of 99.95 yen on April 11.
While the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data caught traders off guard, with the unemployment rate falling to its lowest since December 2008, other economic indicators were gloomier, including purchasing managers indexes from the euro zone and China.
