Asian shares on Tuesday fell to the lowest in two years, weighed down by the prospect of further monetary policy tightening by central banks and Europe's energy shortage, which also left the euro a whisker from parity with the safe haven dollar. 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8 percent to its lowest level in two years, while Japan's Nikkei lost 1.75 percent.  

A high inflation reading would add pressure for the Federal Reserve to step up its already aggressive pace of interest rate increases.

Additionally, the surging cost of energy in Europe is a major fear as the biggest single pipeline carrying Russian natural gas to Germany entered annual maintenance, with flows expected to stop for 10 days. 

(With input from Reuters)