Stocks in Asia mostly edged lower on Tuesday before a key meeting of central bankers and as traders evaluated promising diplomatic signals towards ending hostilities between Russia and Ukraine.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 64 points, or 0.26 percent, to open at 25,241.

Across the border, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.01 percent to open at 3,728 while the Shenzhen Component Index opened 0.06 percent lower at 11,827.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, was down 0.37 percent to open at 2,596.

Japan's Nikkei share gauge set a new intraday record high before heading lower. The US dollar held on to gains from the previous session as traders awaited policy hints from the Federal Reserve ahead of its annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The Nikkei index was flat at 43,722 after rising to a record high of 43,876 and also falling to as low as 43,411.99 earlier in the session.

The broader Topix also traded flat at 3,121 in choppy trading.

"The Jackson Hole Symposium looms as one potential source of volatility, and going into the event, the markets remain cautious," Kyle Rodda, an analyst at Capital.com, wrote in a note to clients.

"A dovish shift is being priced in, with further strength in equity markets – and weakness in the US dollar – reliant on the Fed meeting these expectations."

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.2 percent in early trading, after US stocks ended the previous session with mild losses. (Reuters/Xinhua)