The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended the morning session 42.22 points down at 9,656.37 while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues shed 0.34 percent or 2.85 points to 830.01.

A day after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the government was targeting 7.5 percent growth this year compared with eight percent growth targets for each of the past seven years, Asian markets remained on edge.

A relatively stable Japanese yen and US data showing a further improvement in the services sector had only a modest positive impact on exporters in Tokyo.

"The US market declined as China lowered its growth target, but the US economic indicators themselves weren't too bad," Yumi Nishimura, senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

"Additionally, the yen hasn't strengthened further," she added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.11 percent to finish at 12,962.81 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.86 percent to 2,950.48.

There is also caution over the outcome of the Greek government's deal with private-sector bondholders as the final day for creditors to sign up approaches, dealers said.

Major holders of Greek debt have accepted a crucial debt rollover plan, the Institute of International Finance, which represents major banks and investors, said on Monday.

It aims to cut 107 billion euros from Greece's total 350-billion-euro debt mountain.

The deadline for accepting the bond swap offer is Thursday at 2000 GMT.

The euro bought $1.3208 and 107.56 yen in early Asian trade, compared with $1.3218 and 107.76 yen in New York late Monday. The dollar was edging down to 81.42 yen from 81.52 yen.

Mazda Motor gained 1.56 percent at 130 yen, shrugging off the announcement late Monday that the company has fixed the offer price for a new share issuance at 124 yen per share, a discount on its 128 yen closing price on Monday.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012