Akio Kon | Bloomberg | Getty Images  "Soft consumer spending will continue to weigh on prices, with an additional drag coming from the sharp fall in global oil prices through the later stages of 2014 and heading into the new year. Japan's headline core measure of inflation includes fuel prices and so will come under additional downward pressure in the coming months," analysts from Moody's Analytics wrote in a note.  Meanwhile, earnings will be back in play as major corporations like Canon, Nintendo, Toshiba and Honda hand in their companies' reportcards this week.  Investors will also be watching Australia's consumer prices, which are expected to cool in the fourth quarter due to falling oil prices. Moody's Analytics sees CPI rising 0.3 percent on-quarter, slightly lower from 0.4 percent in the July-September period, and 1.9 percent versus the same quarter a year ago.  While the annual figure falls short of the Reserve Bank of Australia's 2-3 percent target band, a lower Australian dollar will likely provide room for the central bank to hold interest rates at a record low of 2.5 percent through 2015, analysts noted.  Read MoreKyle Bass: Falling oil to push back Fed rate hike  Clues on US rate hike  A meeting by the U.S. central bank's policy-making body, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), will also be in focus for regional markets this week.  Analysts expect the Fed to reaffirm its "patient" pledge in terms of when it will start lifting interest rates and that it will be data dependent. "While recent U.S. economic and labor market data has been favorable, it will be interesting to see how the Fed interprets the recent fall in core inflation. Our base case remains that the first hike will be in June, but with the risk of a delay," Shane Oliver, head of Investment Strategy & Chief Economist at AMP Capital, wrote in a note.
Japan will be in the spotlight this week, where the release of key data will shed some light on the state of the world's third-largest economy.