Stocks in Tokyo and Hong Kong settled in the red on Tuesday as Japan's central bank refrained from further stimulus measures while focus also turned to Moody's downgrade of France's AAA rating.

Stocks in Japan snapped a four-day winning streak as the Bank of Japan left borrowing costs unchanged ahead of December's elections despite increasing calls for stimulus measures.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 10 points at 9,142 in Tokyo while the broader Topix was little changed at 762 points. The Hang Seng retreated 33 points at 21,228.

Meanwhile US rating agency Moody's downgraded France's top notch rating to 'Aa1'. It also kept a negative outlook on the nation, an indication that France may be vulnerable to future downgrades.

The move was widely expected by markets however there is concern that the downgrade will trigger another rise in borrowing costs in the Eurozone.

Japanese exporters came under pressure on fears about weak exports. Shares of Honda Motor reversed 1% while Mazda Motor dropped 1.8%.

Games giant Nintendo declined nearly 3% after its widely anticipated new Wii U videogame console was greeted with mixed reviews.

Energy firms bucked the downward trend in Japan as crude oil prices hit a one-month high. Shares of Inpex rose 0.6% while Japan Petroleum Exploration rose 1.4%.

Advantest Corp tumbled 2.4% as part of a wider sell-off among exporters.

In Hong Kong shares of Ping An Insurance fell a further 1.2% on concern about HSBC's possible sale of its minority stake in the firm. HSBC rose 0.5% as it tracked a strong performance among financials on Wall Street overnight.

Internet giant Tencent recovered 2%, after steep losses in the past few sessions, following its weaker than expected third-quarter results.



CJ

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