BANGKOK – Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday after ratings agency Moody’s slapped credit downgrades on six European Union countries due to the region’s weak economic outlook and uncertain attempts to implement reforms.

Benchmark oil hovered above $100 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro and the yen.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, reversing early morning losses, rose 0.6 percent to 9,064.90. The gains came as the Bank of Japan, following a policy meeting, announced it would buy more government bonds while keeping short-term interest rates near zero to boost the economy.

The U.S. dollar rose to a three-week high against the yen after the central bank’s announcement, Kyodo News agency said. That helped Japan’s exporters, whose earnings have been trampled by a strong home currency. Toyota Motor Corp. jumped by 1.8 percent and Suzuki Motor Corp. was 2 percent higher. Canon Inc. gained 1.5 percent.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was unchanged at 20,886.69 while South Korea’s Kospi was marginally lower at 2,004.65. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 1 percent to 4,243.90.

Moody’s Investor Service on Monday downgraded its credit ratings on Italy, Portugal and Spain. France, Britain and Austria kept their top ratings but had their outlooks dropped to “negative” from “stable.”

Moody’s also cut its ratings on the smaller nations of Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta. All nine countries are members of the European Union.

Government debt ratings can play a major role in countries’ borrowing costs because a lower rating often means countries must pay higher interest rates on their bonds to attract investors.

Moody’s downgrades came amid efforts to prevent recession-mired Greece from a chaotic default on its massive debts.

On Sunday, Greece’s parliament approved sharp cuts in civil service jobs, welfare and the minimum wage, required by international leaders for a $171 billion (euro 130 billion) bailout that the country needs to avoid defaulting on its debt next month.

Tom Kaan of Louis Capital Markets in Hong Kong said the Greece factor was starting to diminish in importance as tensions in the Middle East moved to the forefront after bomb attacks on Israeli diplomatic targets that the Jewish state blamed on Iran.

There are fears that an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran could set off a conflict across the region and send oil prices skyrocketing.

“The way things are going, it’s not going to be good for oil prices or for global ,” Kaan said.

On Monday, stocks rose on Wall Street after investors received news of the parliamentary vote in Athens.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.6 percent to close at 12,874.04. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 0.7 percent to 1,351.77. The Nasdaq composite gained 1 percent to 2,931.39.

Apple Inc. reached a milestone, crossing $500 per share for the first time, closing at $502.60.

Benchmark oil for March delivery was down 35 cents to $100.56 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.24 to settle at $100.91 on Monday.

In currency trading, the euro fell to $1.3162 from $1.3202 in New York. The dollar rose to 77.86 yen from 77.61 yen.

NEW YORK – Stocks were mixed Wednesday afternoon as questions mounted over whether Greece will hammer out a cost-cutting deal it needs to keep from defaulting on its debt.

After climbing in early trading, the Dow was down 15 points to 12,863 at 1 p.m. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell less than a point to 1,347. The Nasdaq composite edged up 2 to 2,906.

Ralph Lauren rose 10 percent after beating analysts’ estimates for quarterly earnings, a sign that wealthy customers are still spending even as the economy struggles with high unemployment. Whole Foods, another company aimed at wealthier shoppers, rose 2 percent. Buffalo Wild Wings shot up 14 percent after reporting income and revenue that easily beat analysts’ estimates.

Caesars Entertainment Corp., a major casino operator, shot up 76 percent to $15.80, from its original pricing of $9 on its first day as a public company. That was a sign of confidence for a company that tried to go public in late 2010 but nixed the plan after a couple of weeks, blaming market conditions.

Rick Fier, vice president of equity trading at Conifer Securities in New York, cautioned that even though many companies are turning in strong earnings, overall revenue growth appears to be slowing. That “gives us cause for concern,” Fier said.

Sprint Nextel Corp. fell 2 percent after the phone company reported a fourth-quarter loss. While Sprint added subscribers, it had to pay dearly for them. Sprint started offering customers iPhones, but it had to subsidize the cost so customers could buy them for as little as $99.

OpenTable, which lets people make dinner reservations online, fell 11 percent. Though the company beat analysts’ predictions for fourth-quarter earnings, it also issued a cautious forecast for the current quarter.

Investors are still worried about the possibility that Greece could default on its debt next month. Greece’s leaders are having trouble agreeing on new cost-cutting measures being demanded by the country’s lenders. A series of deadlines have already passed without agreement being reached.

Even if a deal is reached, bondholders will almost certainly be forced to take giant write-downs, which could cripple future demand for Greek government debt. Greece will likely have to cut more from its bloated expenses, which won’t go over well in a country already protesting that cuts have been too severe.

WE CAME HERE FOR THIS? Stocks traded in a narrow range all day and finished mixed and nearly unchanged. Only the Nasdaq moved more than a tenth of a percent.

SO FAR: Stocks are off to a strong start this year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 5.4 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 4 percent.

WHAT’S NEXT: Friday job numbers. The government is due to release the number of jobs created last month and the unemployment rate. In December, the country added 200,000 jobs, and the rate was 8.5 percent.

Investors coasted Thursday while they waited for a critical government report on jobs. Stocks were mostly flat, a pause from their strong start this year, and bonds didn’t move much, either.

The Labor Department said the four-week average of unemployment claims fell to 375,750, the lowest since June 2008 and enough to suggest a steadily improving job market.

The more important numbers come Friday, when the government releases the number of jobs created in January and the unemployment rate. In December, the country added 200,000 jobs, and the rate was 8.5 percent.

A day ahead of the report, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 10 points at 12,707. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose one point to 1,325. The Nasdaq composite rose 10 points to 2,858.

The Dow traded in a narrow range — between a gain of 25 points and a loss of 40.

Bond traders stayed on the sidelines, too. The price of the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 6.2 cents for every $100 invested, and the yield inched down to 1.82 percent from 1.83 percent Wednesday.

Most industries in the stock market rose, albeit slightly. A 0.6 percent gain was all it took to make energy stocks the biggest-gaining category in the S&P.

U.S. mining stocks rose after British mining company Xstrata PLC confirmed it is in merger discussions with commodities trader Glencore International PLC. In the U.S., Newmont Mining Corp. rose 1.5 percent, Alcoa was up 2 percent, and iron ore and coal miner Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. rose 1 percent.

The deal is a signal to investors that mining companies are trading at low prices compared with the commodities they mine, said Nathan Rowader, director of investments at Forward Management in San Francisco.

Health care stocks fell almost 1 percent. Cigna dropped 4 percent after its earnings fell short of expectations as it absorbed higher corporate and medical costs. Pfizer fell 1.1 percent after recalling birth-control pills.

Retailers were a patchwork of rising and falling stock, reflecting their patchwork of January sales results. Costco and Target came in better than expected. Macy’s and Dillard’s fell short. Costco rose 2.5 percent, and Target rose 0.6 percent.

Gap rose 10 percent after revenue at its high-end Banana Republic stores rose 6 percent.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. fell 11 percent to a one-year low after it said higher markdowns and cotton costs mean its adjusted fourth-quarter profit and revenue will be less than analysts had expected.

Last year, investors were so worried about a financial disaster in Europe that U.S. companies with strong earnings have been undervalued, said Tim Courtney, chief investment officer of Burns Advisory Group in Oklahoma City.

Now, he said, stock prices are catching up. The S&P is up 5.4 percent this year, the Dow 4 percent.

“Right now the market is going up just on the absence of bad news, on the absence of that worst-case scenario materializing,” he said.

Stocks in Europe closed nearly flat or up slightly. Britain’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.1 percent. Germany’s DAX was 0.6 percent higher, and the CAC-40 in France rose 0.3 percent.

The euro was also subdued after recent gains, trading slightly lower at $1.315.

In other corporate news:

• Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., which makes Keurig cup coffee brewers, rose a hot 22 percent after it said first-quarter revenue more than doubled, margins tripled, and net income rose more than 40-fold.

• MasterCard rose almost 6 percent after adjusted profits beat Wall Street expectations.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks seesawed in a tight range on Thursday, with winners and losers taking their cues from earnings reports, while a drop in jobless claims continued to point to a slowly healing labor market.

Healthcare shares were among the losers, with underwhelming quarterly reports from drugmaker Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N), insurer Cigna Corp (CI.N) and medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp (BSX.N). Merck fell 1.3 percent to $38.14, Cigna dropped 5.7 percent to $43.10 and Boston Scientific was off 7 percent to $5.67.

The S&P healthcare sector (.GSPA) fell nearly 1 percent and was the largest weight on the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Technology shares continued to outperform the broader market, with Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) hitting its highest level in 12 years after first-quarter profit trounced estimates. Shares gained 2.1 percent to $60.84 after hitting a high of $61.95.

MasterCard Inc (MA.N) rose near 5.6 percent to $377.84 after the payment processor beat analysts' estimates for the seventh straight quarter.

Investor sentiment was helped as the economy, on an uptrend of late, got another boost as new claims for jobless benefits dropped more than expected in the latest week. The government will report monthly payrolls data Friday.

"Investors are focusing on what they should, which is the improving backdrop in the U.S. economy," said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist, Delta Global Asset Management in Boston.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 33.45 points, or 0.26 percent, at 12,683.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down 1.07 points, or 0.08 percent, at 1,323.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 4.50 points, or 0.16 percent, at 2,852.77.

Zaro expects the current uptrend for the S&P 500 to take it to 1,370 in the first half of the year, but the index could pull back before then at around the 1,330 level.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc (GMCR.O) soared 22.1 percent to $65.45 a day after its first-quarter earnings far exceeded expectations.

The third warmest January in 50 years hurt same-store sales at department stores and apparel retailers. But discounters such as Target and Costco as well as high-end stores beat estimates.

Target Corp (TGT.N) rose 1 percent to $51.94 while Abercrombie & Fitch Co (ANF.N) slumped 11.6 percent to $41.39, and Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) was up 2.2 percent at $85.02.

Facebook could raise as much as $10 billion in the biggest-ever Internet initial public offering, according to a filing Wednesday. In 2011, Facebook said net income rose 65 percent to $1 billion on revenue of $3.71 billion.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)