Indexes in Asia were cautious on Tuesday after stocks stumbled and investors turned to safe haven assets in the previous session on the back of North Korea's recent nuclear test.

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The Nikkei 225 was off 0.15 percent in early trade.

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index made cautious gains, climbing 0.1 percent after closing lower by more than 1 percent in the previous session.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.58 percent, driven by steep falls in the energy and utilities sub-indexes. Major banks were also lower across the board, with the heavily-weighted financials sub-index falling 0.62 percent.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula remained in focus even as markets recovered slightly. The U.S. on Monday called for the "strongest possible" sanctions to be imposed on North Korea a day after the North said it had tested a hydrogen bomb. President Donald Trump also spoke to South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the phone, during which he gave "conceptual approval" for South Korea to purchase billions of dollars in weapons from the US., Reuters said.

South Korea also said on Monday that the North was planning to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile, according to Yonhap. Meanwhile, South Korea would proceed with the rolling out an anti-missile system that had drawn China's ire, according to Reuters.

Gold edged down after climbing to its strongest levels in around 11 months. Spot gold stood at $1,333.86 an ounce at 8:01 a.m. HK/SIN after climbing as high as $1,336.79 on Monday

Meanwhile, the yen — often regarded as a safe haven currency — was largely flat, trading at 109.76 yen to the dollar.

The Korean won clawed back some losses to trade at 1,128.47 won to the dollar after going as low as 1,132.61 won to the dollar overnight.

Stocks in Europe and Asia had closed lower on Monday, with the Kospi closing 1.19 percent down and the Nikkei 225 falling 0.93 percent. The pan-European Stoxx 600 experienced more moderate losses, erasing 0.52 percent by the market close.

Despite the move to safety, analysts said market reaction on Monday was relatively muted.

"Risk off sentiment has hardly become evident. Moves back to safe haven or risk off currencies,

On the energy front, U.S. crude added 0.23 percent to trade at $47.40 a barrel as demand picked up and U.S. refineries started to resume operations. Brent crude slid 0.17 percent to trade at $52.25 a barrel.

Gasoline futures fell 3.51 percent to $1.6866 a gallon, close to levels seen before Hurricane Harvey hit.

In individual stocks, Japanese automakers were mixed despite posting solid August sales figures in China. Toyota sales in the country rose 13.2 percent in August compared to a year ago, according to Nikkei Asian Review. Honda sales picked up 20.6 percent while Mazda sales climbed 8.4 percent, Nikkei said. In reaction, Toyota shares were up 0.42 percent, Honda edged up 0.43 percent and Mazda was off 0.03 percent.

Meanwhile, South Korean retail names trended lower. Shares of Lotte Shopping and Lotte Himart were down 0.41 percent and 0.73 percent, respectively. The moves came following news that Lotte Duty Free was weighing a decision to withdraw from Incheon International Airport in South Korea. South Korean retailers have had a difficult year owing in part to China's opposition to the deployment of an anti-missile system in South Korea.

Ahead, investors are expected to focus on China Caixin services PMI due later in the morning after the official services reading came in at its lowest level since May 2016. Both Caixin and official manufacturing PMI for August beat expectations.

Here's the economic calendar for Tuesday (all times in HK/SIN):

9:30 a.m.: Australia second-quarter current account

9:45 a.m.: China Caixin August services PMI

12:30 p.m.: Reserve Bank of Australia decision

4:00 p.m.: Taiwan August CPI

U.S. markets will re-open on Tuesday for trade after taking a break on Monday for Labor Day.

First Published:Sept 5, 2017 7:44 AM IST