Asian markets in "risk-off" on Tuesday

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average took profits (-0.28%) after a 8-day winning streak despite improving consumer confidence in February, from 43.3 to 44.3. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite (-1.03%), Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-0.43%) and South Korea's Kospi (-0.50%) also moved lower on Tuesday.

Futures for the German DAX (-0.28%) and the French CAC 40 (-0.32%) are signaling a lower opening after German prices data and ahead French current account. Germany WPI came in at 0.1% in February (MoM), below 0.3% consensus. CPI and HICP came in at 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively, as expected.