05:41 AM EST, 12/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely fell back Tuesday as traders remained underwhelmed by Beijing economic stimulus plans, and took to the sidelines ahead of rate decisions by central banks in Tokyo and Washington.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the red, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher on Wall Street cues but drifted lower, finishing down 0.2% on traders' concerns regarding the Bank of Japan upcoming rate announcement.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 92.81 to 39,364.68, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 153 to 71.

Leading the upside was tech-financier SoftBank, up 4.4% after US President-elect Donald Trump praised the company's plan to invest $100 billion into US enterprises. On the downside, semiconductor-test equipment maker Advantest declined 9.3%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower, see-sawed, but finished down 0.5% as traders remained wary of Beijing economic stimulus plans, and the nation's struggling property markets.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 95.01 to 19,700.48 as losing issues outnumbered gainers 66 to 13. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 0.6% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.1%.

Leading the upside was hot-pot dining chain Haidilao, gaining 3.1%, while auto-dealer Zhonsheng declined 3.4%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.7% to 3,361.48.

On the other regional exchanges, the South Korean KOSPI fell 1.3%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.1%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.8%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.6%, and the Thai Set declined 1.7%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 1.3%.