Investing.com | Mar 15, 2016 12:34AM ET

Investing.com - Asian shares dropped on Tuesday on market jitters ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting this week that is being eyed for comments on the global economic outlook.

The fell 0.69%.As well, the was last down 0.77% and Hong Kong's eased 0.63%. The dropped 1.31%.

As expected the held policy steady, but noted the market volatility has dented confidence and the price views of consumers and business.

At the January meeting, the BoJ lowered lowered the rate it charges to commercial banks that park excess reserves at the central bank to negative 0.1% in a move aimed at helping its economy stave off threats of deflation. The BoJ is ostensibly hoping to keep the yield curve as low as possible in order to assist the government with financing issues by making public sector debt more affordable.

Earlier, the Reserve Bank of Australia release from its March review at which it held steady at a record low 2.0% and confirmed it had room to cut rates further if needed.

The yuan fell against the U.S. dollar Tuesday after the People's Bank of China set the fixing 0.26% weaker, the biggest percentage drop

since a decrease of 0.51% on Jan. 7.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will issue its latest monetary policy statement following the completion of its two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) for the month of March. While the Fed is also expected to leave short-term interest rates steady, the U.S. central bank could provide further clues on its pace of future rate hikes in its first tightening cycle in a decade. The FOMC held its benchmark Federal Funds Rate at a target range between 0.25 and 0.50% in January, one month after abandoning a seven-year zero interest rate policy.

The U.S. economy has shown signs of improvement since the FOMC's last meeting. In February, non-farm payrolls surged by 242,000, considerably above consensus estimates of gains of 190,000. A month earlier, the Core PCE Index, the Fed's preferred gauge on inflation, soared by 1.7% on an annual basis, its strongest annual gain in more than a year. Economists, however, remain concerned by sluggish wage gains after average hourly earnings fell by 0.1% last month.

Overnight, U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Monday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Utilities and Technology sectors led shares higher while losses in the Basic Materials, Oil & Gas and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the gained 0.09% to hit a new 1-month high, while the declined 0.13%, and the added 0.04%.