The dollar was pressured on Wednesday ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve s two-day policy meeting later, while the euro drifted on expectations for a rate cut when the European Central Bank meets later in the week.

Investors were cautious ahead of some big monetary policy decisions due this week, and lacked incentives to trade actively with many Asian markets closed for the Labour Day holiday.

One highlight during the Asian session is the release of official Chinese Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) due at 0100 GMT, which is expected to hit a 12-month high.MSCI s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was nearly flat after climbing to a seven-week high on Tuesday.

The Australian benchmark share index was down 0.1 percent after reaching its highest in nearly five years in the previous session.
Japan s Nikkei stock average opened down 0.2 percent. The index posted its best April in 20 years, reflecting a sharp improvement in investor sentiment as the government promotes aggressive policies to end the country s stubborn deflation and bolster growth.

The dollar was down 0.2 percent against the yen at 97.26 yen and inched down 0.1 percent against a basket of six major currencies. The dollar index hit its lowest since the end of February at 81.598 on Tuesday.

"No one should be expecting either a change in the (Fed s) $85 billion monthly quantitative easing (QE) pace or a hint that the case for tapering QE has grown," Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac in Sydney, said in a note to clients.