Markets in Asia traded sideways early Tuesday, following directionless trade in yesterday's session as major markets around the world were closed for various holidays.

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The Nikkei 225 edged 0.13 percent lower in early trade. The S&P/ASX 200 was effectively flat, trading 0.01 percent lower.

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index rose 0.11 percent.

Markets in Hong Kong and China are closed today for a public holiday. Stateside, markets in the U.S. were closed on Monday for Memorial Day.

In economic news, Japan household spending dipped 1.4 percent for the month of April, weaker than the 0.7 percent forecast. Meanwhile, April retail sales rose 3.2 percent on year, compared to a forecast of a 2.3 percent rise, Reuters said.

There was little reaction in the yen, which traded around 111.21 before the release of data. Dollar/yen traded slightly lower following the news at 111.18.

In other currency news, the dollar strengthened against a basket of six rival currencies to trade at 97.698 after holding steady in the last session around the 97.4 handle. The dollar hit a near six and a half month low last week.

The British pound recovered after falling last week following polls showing U.K. Prime Minister Teresa May's lead had narrowed ahead of a snap election next week. With U.K. markets closed yesterday for a bank holiday, the pound strengthened to trade at $1.2813 compared to the $1.27 handle seen last Friday.

Meanwhile, the euro remained steady following comments made by European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi while addressing the European Parliament. The euro traded at $1.1129 against the dollar.

In his speech, Draghi acknowledged growth in the euro zone but said "an extraordinary amount of monetary policy support" remained "necessary."

"It's now only a week out from the ECB meeting and you can't get much clearer than that. The ECB will then unveil its new inflation forecasts; an about turn from the ECB signalling a winding down of QE would be a big surprise to the market," National Australia Bank Senior Economist David de Garis wrote in a note.

Oil prices were mixed after ending the last session cautiously higher following reports of U.S. drillers adding rigs. Brent crude shed 0.08 percent to trade at $52.25 a barrel while U.S. West Texas International (WTI) crude added 0.32 percent to trade at $49.97.