Asia stocks lost momentum Tuesday with major indexes slipping as an overnight improvement in market sentiment ran out of steam.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 59 points, or 0.4%, to close at 16,052.05.
The Japanese yen remained strong against the U.S. dollar, with the dollar-yen pair remaining around the 112-handle at 112.44
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slid 49.31 points, or 0.3%, to 19,414.78
In Japan, Takata shares retraced some losses to close down 4.34 percent. Earlier, shares fell as much as 83%, after media reports rolled in that U.S. regulators are examining if another 70 million to 90 million air bag inflators need to be recalled.
The airbag manufacturer has been embroiled in a long controversy over faulty airbags, leading to many major car manufacturers issuing recalls globally.
Down Under, miners were in focus after one of the world's biggest miners slashed its dividend for the first time since 1988 in the wake of the collapse in commodities prices.
BHP Billiton reported a net loss of $5.67 billion U.S. for the first half of the 2016 financial year and cut its interim dividend by 75% to 16 cents, from 62 cents a share, well below analyst expectations of 31 cents.
Despite the steep decline in its earnings numbers, BHP shares closed up 2.6%. Other miners were mixed, with Rio Tinto adding 1.4% while Fortescue gave up early gains to close down 3.2%.
Shares of commodities trader Noble Group erased losses of as much as 4.1% to trade up 2.7% despite warning it will post a net loss in the fourth quarter and for the full-year 2015, after taking a $1.2-billion U.S. hit from adjustments as commodities prices continued to tank.
Energy plays across Asia gave up much of their early gains and traded mixed, with Santos closing down 1.2% Woodside Petroleum lower by 0.1%, Japan's Fuji Oil falling 1.5% and Inpex adding 0.9%.
OPEC's secretary general Abdalla Salem El-Badri said on Monday bothOPEC and non-cartel countries are willing to cooperate to find a solution to low oil prices.
In recent weeks, major oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, met in Doha and have said they are ready to freeze production at January levels if other producers do the same.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 index settled 29.5 points, or 1%, to 3,089.36
Energy plays on the Chinese mainland were mostly lower, with China Oilfield dropping 1.2%
In other markets;
In Korea, the Kospi index inched down 2.14 points, or 0.1%, to 1,914.22
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index added 11.42 points, or 0.4%, to 2,672.07
In Taiwan, the Taiex index grew 7.96 points, or 0.1%, to 8,334.64
The NZX 50 in New Zealand regrouped 36.21 points, or 0.6%, to 6,175.67.
In Australia, the ASX 200 erased 21.63 points, or 0.4%, to 4,979.59
