Stock markets in Japan traded in negative territory on Tuesday as the Bank of Japan pledged to increase its asset buying and lending programme by 11trn yen to 91trn yen.

The BoJ's latest announcement to expand its asset-purchase programme came in largely as expected. Major indices fell into the red on disappointment that the central bank did not announce more aggressive easing measures amid growing evidence that the world's third largest economy is on the brink of recession.

Market sentiment also remained jittery as Hurricane Sandy continues to batter the East Coast of America, forcing the close of Wall Street.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 87 points at 8,841 in Tokyo while the broader Topix index fell 0.9% to 733.46. The Hang Seng closed 82 points lower at a two week low of 21,428 in Hong Kong.

The BOJ's asset expansion beefed up the yen against the dollar, putting pressure on key exporters such as Sony and Komatsu which fell 1.6% and 1.8% respectively. Toyota, Nissan and Honda all motored lower.

Elsewhere shares of Nomura Holdings rose 3.2% after it reported a second quarter profit compared to a loss made the same time a year earlier.

TV giant Sharp also bucked the downward trend on Tuesday, rising over 6% after reports that it has entered into talks with Apple, Google and Microsoft with regards to possible tie-ups.

In Hong Kong banks were among the day's biggest losers as profit takers took a chunk out of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ahead of its earnings after the bell. Bank of Communications was down 1.2%.

Real estate also came under pressure with shares of Henderson Land lagging 0.4% while Cheung Kong lost 0.2%. Sun Hung Kai Properties overcame early weakness to post a 15 increase in late trading.


CJ

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