Asian stocks narrowed losses as Moody’s Investors Service cut ratings on European nations including Italy, Spain and Portugal. Spain was downgraded to A3 from A1, Italy was cut to A3 from A2 and Portugal was lowered to Ba3 from Ba2, Moody’s said, giving all three nations a negative outlook. The ratings firm also reduced credit levels for Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta.

Nikkei 225 8,999.18 +52.01 +0.58%

Hang Seng 20,887.4 +103.54 +0.50%

S&P/ASX 200 4,285.14 +39.81 +0.94%

Shanghai Composite 2,351.85 -0.13 -0.01%

Cosco Pacific Ltd., which operates container facilities at Greece’s Piraeus port, fell 1.9 percent in Hong Kong.

E Ink Holdings Inc., which makes screens for Amazon.com’s handheld reader, slumped 6.2 percent in Taiwan.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. advanced 0.8 percent after the Bank of Japan expanded an asset-purchase program to buoy growth.

China Molybdenum Co., a mineral explorer, fell 4.6 percent to HK$4.13 after reporting fiscal year profit was 1.12 billion yuan ($178 million), short of the 1.18 billion yuan estimated by analysts.