Asia share markets were cautious on Tuesday after US markets weakened as investors anticipated the start of corporate earnings seasons and the release of key inflation data to indicate how the global recovery from the pandemic will emerge.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was trading less than 0.1% higher early Tuesday.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 gained 10 points to 6983.90 early in the session while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9%. Tech stocks drove the gain in Australian stocks while the country's major miners showed signs of weakness.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.6% in early trade while the mainland bluechip index CSI300 edged up 0.3% ahead of March trade figures due to be published on Tuesday.

South Korea's KOSPI 200 Index was 0.5% higher.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 55.2 points, or 0.16%, to 33,745.4, the S&P 500 lost 0.81 points, or 0.02%, to 4,127.99 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 50.19 points, or 0.36%, to 13,850.00.

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US inflation data for March is due to be published on Tuesday.

The benchmark 10-year yield was at 1.6782%,holding below a 14-month high of 1.776% reached on March 30. It traded between a range of 1.6835% and 1.6427% during the USsession.