Asian stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday, despite gains on Wall Street, as worries mounted over escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war.

US futures edged higher while oil prices were little changed.

On Tuesday, Ukraine fired several American-supplied longer-range missiles into Russia, according to the official, marking the first such use in nearly 1,000 days of war. On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for Russia's use of its nuclear weapons.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.5 per cent to 38,242.35 after the Finance Ministry reported the country recorded a trade deficit in October, for a fourth straight month. Exports rose 3.1 per cent from a year earlier as a weak yen and the rising price of energy kept import costs high. A trade deficit occurs when the country is importing more goods and services than it is exporting.

China's central bank announced it will keep its benchmark lending rates unchanged after it cut its one-year lending rate to 3.1 per cent in October.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.1 per cent to 19,641.05, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.6 per cent to 3,364.54.

Australia's S and P/ASX 200 dipped 0.5 per cent to 8,330.70. South Korea's Kospi added 0.7 per cent to 2,488.83.

On Tuesday, the S and P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to 5,916.98 after erasing an early drop of 0.7 per cent. The Nasdaq composite also shook off an early loss to turn 1 per cent higher to 18,987.47, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3 per cent to 43,268.94.

Nvidia's 4.9 per cent climb accounted for most of the index's gain. The chip company's stock rallied ahead of its profit report for the latest quarter, which is coming later Wednesday, and vaulted its gain for the year to nearly 197 per cent thanks to the craze around artificial-intelligence technology.

The worries on the Ukraine-Russia conflict sent investors into US Treasury bonds, which are seen as some of the world's safest investments. The rise in their prices in turn lowered their yields, and the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.39 per cent from 4.41 per cent late Monday.

Gold also rose 0.6 per cent and recovered some of the losses it sustained following Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election, as investors herded into places traditionally considered safer during times of trouble.

Walmart climbed 3 per cent after topping forecasts for both profit and revenue. The nation's biggest retailer said it saw broad-based strength across its categories, including sales made both online and in stores. It also said it served more upper-income households, while raising its forecasts for sales and profit for the full year.

Lowe's likewise delivered bigger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but its stock nevertheless dropped 4.6 per cent.

A report in the morning said construction crews broke ground on fewer new homes last month than economists expected, and rival Home Depot slipped 0.9 per cent.

Other big companies set to report their latest quarterly results this week include Target on Wednesday and Deere and Co. on Thursday.

In other dealings early Wednesday, benchmark US crude oil edged 3 cents lower to USD 69.21 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 5 cents to USD 73.26 per barrel.

The dollar rose to 155.06 Japanese yen from 154.54 yen. The euro slipped to USD 1.0590 from USD 1.0598.