Bonds were mixed, sending New Zealand yields at the short end of the curve one basis point lower but pushing those at the long end of the curve one basis point higher
Investors are also awaiting Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium for clues over any tapering of stimulus measures
Stocks in Sao Paulo, however, fell as airline shares came under pressure again. Shares in Azul SA and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA fell 5% and 3% respectively.
In Tokyo, Panasonic was trading up 1.12 percent at 1,395 yen after it said it will sell all the shares of its European disposable battery units to German asset management group Aurelius.