The Nikkei index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange edged down 0.03 percent, or 2.19 points, to 8,721.93.

Japanese markets had been closed for a national holiday on Monday.

Tachibana Securities market analyst Kenichi Hirano said investors were likely to be cautious before a raft of US economic indicators including June industrial output as well as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's two-day testimony in Congress starting later Tuesday.

He told Dow Jones Newswires that any gains may be limited amid global growth worries after the International Monetary Fund Monday trimmed its 2012 global growth forecast to 3.5 percent from its 3.6 percent forecast three months ago.

US stocks closed lower Monday after an unexpected fall in retail sales in June, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.39 percent, on concerns about the strength of consumer spending, a key driver of the economy.

US retail sales fell by 0.5 percent last month, the Commerce Department reported. Most analysts had forecast a rise of 0.2 percent.