Leads from global markets were mixed, with European stocks closing in the black, while US stocks dipped into the red. Meanwhile trading in the Asia Pacific region was subdued on Tuesday due to Chinese New Year holidays. Markets in Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam are closed Tuesday.

Risk sentiments turned bleak after Euro zone finance ministers on Monday rejected an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure Greece's debts. Eurozone finance ministers said on Monday that Greece's private-sector creditors should agree to receive average interest rates of less than 4% in the planned restructuring of Greek debt. Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg who also chairs the meetings of eurozone finance ministers, said that the interest rate on the swapped Greek bonds would have to average clearly below 4 percent over the lifetime of the bonds. In the period before 2020, the average interest rate will be less than 3.5 percent, he added.

Charles Dallara, the creditors' lead negotiator, said that the bondholders have made the maximum offer on losses they are willing to bear, leaving it to the EU and IMF to decide whether to accept the deal. An agreement is crucial for Greece to avoid a default when EUR14.4 billion comes due March 20.

Back to countries, the Australian stock market erased entire early gain before finishing trade, as investors booked intraday profit amid growing concerns about European debts. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 0.90 point, or 0.02%, at 4,224.20. The broader All Ordinaries Index fell 1.20 points, or 0.03%, at 4,286.40.

Gold miner Newcrest Mining rose 2% to A$32.84 even after it reported a 20% fall in quarterly production (but better than market expectation), compared with the same period in 2010, as heavy rains in Papua New Guinea and lower ore grades dented output. Oil Search rose 2.7% to A$6.84 after it reported a 26% rise in revenue for the year to December 31 to US$732.9 million due to higher oil prices.

In New Zealand, the benchmark NXZ50 index fell down by 0.8%, snapping five days winning streak, as investors cashed in recent profit amidst uncertainty about Greek debt restructure plans.

In Japan, the Nikkei225 index up by 0.22% after moving in narrow range, as enthusiasm spur by weakening yen against the euro and better than expected earnings announcement from major blue chip companies mostly offset by growing concerns that Greece.

Yaskawa Electric Corp rose 0.3% to 688 yen after the servomotor producer announced its net income rose 61% to 7 billion yen for the nine months through December from a year earlier due to rising sales in industrial robots for the auto industry. Yurtec Corp climbed up 3.3% to 413 yen after the construction company raised its full-year net-income forecast 18% to 2 billion yen. Sony Corp. dropped 2.4% to 1,388 yen on reports that the company offered to take as much as a 30% stake in scandal-hit Olympus Corp as part of a business alliance proposal.

Japan's central bank released its latest statement on monetary policy and also decided to keep interest rates unchanged for yet another month. Japan's central bank said Tuesday it expects the economy to shrink slightly during the fiscal year ending in March instead of expanding as it forecast earlier because of the overseas slowdown. Central bank lowered its projection for fiscal 2012 to 2% growth from 2.2% growth. It was more upbeat about fiscal 2013, raising that to a 1.6% expansion from 1.5%. The bank said the massive debt problems in Europe as well as uncertainty about the U.S. economy are risks for Japan's outlook. The Bank of Japan kept its key interest rate the same at close to zero% but downgraded its growth forecast for the year ending March 2012 to a 0.4% contraction from the 0.3% expansion it gave in October.

In India, key benchmark indices trimmed gains in mid-afternoon trade as European stocks dropped in early trade there. The barometer index, BSE Sensex, was above the psychological 17,000 mark, having alternately moved above and below that mark in intraday trade. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s latest move to cut the cash reserve ratio (CRR) requirement for banks by 50 basis points to 5.5% from 6% at a quarterly policy review today, 24 January 2012, boosted investor sentiment. Also boosting the sentiment was a statement from the central bank that the reduction in CRR can also be viewed as a reinforcement of the guidance that future rate actions will be towards lowering interest rates. The Sensex was up 263.87 points or 1.58%, off about 35 points from the day's high and up about 245 points from the day's low.

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