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Asian stocks slipped on Tuesday amid growing worries this month's referendum in Britain could see it exit the European Union, while markets were also nervous ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day meeting that begins later in the day.

The pound and euro have suffered in recent sessions as economists fear that the so-called Brexit would tip Europe back into recession. Voters appear divided ahead of the June 23 referendum, with the "Out" campaign widening its lead over the "In" camp, according to two opinion polls published by ICM on Monday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.4 percent in early trade, after Wall Street lost ground for the third straight session.

Uncertainty over this week's Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting has weighed on markets, though the U.S. central bank is widely expected to leave rates unchanged after the much weaker-than-expected May nonfarm payrolls report.

"The committee was actively preparing markets for a June-July rate hike until the release of the May employment report and is unlikely to give up its tightening bias absent additional information that labor markets are weakening," analysts at Barclays wrote.

"Nevertheless, the abrupt slowing in employment and falling long-run inflation expectations should raise alarm bells, and risk management concerns suggest delaying action until after the outcome of the UK referendum," they said.

Japanese stocks hit a nine-week low on Tuesday, continuing to feel the heat from concerns that a referendum next week could push Britain out of the European Union and trigger turmoil in global markets.

Marking its fourth day of losses, the Nikkei share average closed down 1 percent at 15,859.00 points after falling to 15,762.09, its lowest intraday level since April 12.

China stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious after a slump earlier in the week and ahead of MSCI's decision on whether to add Chinese shares to one of its flagship indexes.

Investors also worry about China's economic health and are bracing for a possible exit of Britain from the European Union.

Both the CSI300 index and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3 percent, to 3,075.98 points, and 2,842.19 points, respectively. The indexes slumped 3 percent on Monday.

Hong Kong shares fell on Tuesday, with market sentiment curbed by worries about China's economy and uncertainty around this week's Federal Reserve meeting and next week's British referendum on whether to leave the European Union.

The Hang Seng index fell 0.6 percent to 20,387.53 points, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.4 percent to 8,583.09.

Reference: Reuters