The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.3 percent to 132.73 as of 9:08 a.m. in Tokyo. Markets in Australia and New Zealand are shut for a holiday. While economists expect the Fed to keep U.S. interest rates unchanged when they meet on Wednesday, a slim majority of analysts project the Japanese central bank will boost monetary stimulus at their meeting the following day.
Japanese stocks fell on Monday as investors cashed in profits from a four-day rally that last week lifted the benchmark Nikkei index to an 11-1/2-week high amid rising expectations of further central bank easing.
The Nikkei share average closed 0.8 percent lower at 17,439.30. Japan's benchmark index added more than four percent in the previous week.
Market players said investors continued to look ahead to key corporate earnings news and central bank policy meetings due to be held later this week in the United States and Japan.
Exporters outperformed after the yen hit a three-week low on Monday amid firmer expectations that the Bank of Japan could start lending to banks at negative rates.
China stocks fell on Monday, as growing concerns over risks in debt and commodities markets on the mainland curbed investor appetites.
Both the blue-chip CSI300 index and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4 percent, reaching 3,162.03 points and 2,946.67 points, respectively.
Investors are getting increasingly nervous about China's debt market, which has witnessed a slew of defaults this year.
Reference: Reuters, Bloomberg
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