Trading in the majority of Asian markets was narrow amid concerns about interest rates

The only industry to post significant gains was technology, and regional markets saw Wall Street's somewhat optimistic overnight closing as a mixed bag. Prior to a plethora of interest rate clues this week, U.S. stock index futures moved down in Asian trade.

The minutes of the Fed's June meeting are expected on Wednesday, and Powell is scheduled to appear at an event hosted by the European Central Bank on Tuesday. This week's important labour market statistics will also be monitored, as nonfarm payrolls are due on Friday.

After posting a somewhat favourable start to July, China's Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indices saw a small increase on Tuesday. Nevertheless, as optimism for a Chinese economic rebound soured, they were also suffering severe losses through June.

After taking a holiday on Monday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index increased in catch-up trading, gaining 1.5% as the city's heavyweight technology firms followed gains in their American counterparts.

This week's optimism towards China was bolstered by some encouraging statistics from the private purchasing managers index and data indicating an uptick in house sales.

Yet, official PMI data released over the weekend revealed that China's manufacturing sector contracted for a second consecutive month.

After the Reserve Bank of Australia's June meeting minutes revealed that policymakers had discussed raising interest rates in response to persistently high inflation, Australia's ASX 200 index saw a modest decline.

For three months in a row, Australian inflation exceeded forecasts and stayed well over the RBA's target range. According to UBS analysts, if this pattern persists, rates might rise by 25 basis points in August.

Key Events Today:

• Eurozone CPI at 10:00 GMT
• Fed Chair Powell Speech at 14:30 GMT
• JOLTs Job Openings at 15:00 GMT

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)