HONG KONG - Asian stocks were mixed in quiet trade on Tuesday as optimism on the state of the global recovery helped dealers shrug off news that Greece's debt rating had been downgraded to "junk" again.

Markets were given little direction from Wall Street although traders were lifted by strong production data from Europe.

Tokyo edged up 8.02 points to end 9,887.89 and Sydney was flat, dropping 0.5 points to 4,505.0 while Hong Kong was also flat, adding 10.24 to 20,062.15.

Regional stocks have been rising for several days as upbeat economic data out of Asia at the end of last week, including strong Chinese exports and better than expected Japanese growth, boost sentiment.

Shanghai was closed for a public holiday.

Moody's rating agency said Monday it slashed its sovereign rating for Greece on concerns about how Athens can repay its debts.

The move came as European Union and International Monetary Fund auditors began looking at the country's attempts to slash its debt.

The agency said uncertainty about Greek plans, even with the help of a 110-billion-euro ($132-billion) EU-IMF bailout, to reduce its huge debt and balance its finances justified the ratings cut.

Athens rejected the move, saying it had taken major steps to balance its books.

However, David Taylor, market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney told Dow Jones Newswires the downgrade was not unexpected.

"Moody's downgrade of Greece's credit rating should not move things too much," he said. "This is just one more downgrade in a series that began late last year."

Standard & Poor's in April also downgraded Greece's sovereign debt to junk status, while Fitch, the other major international ratings agency, warned in late May that it might also cut the country to the same level.

The European single currency eased after making recent gains against other major currencies. It was standing at 1.2191 dollars, slightly lower than 1.2222 in New York late Monday.

The euro also edged down to 111.18 yen from 111.89 yen. The dollar was at 91.19 yen from 91.56 yen.

Dealers were given some lift by the European Union's announcement that eurozone production grew 0.8% in April from the March level, nearly double the level expected by analysts.

The figure was up a record 9.5% year on year.

Non-euro member Britain lowered its economic growth forecast for 2011 to 2.6% from the previous government's 3.25% estimate.

The revision was offset by a forecast lower deficit -- 155 billion pounds ($230 billion) in the financial year to March 2011, down from the previous estimate of 163 billion pounds.

Oil was lower, with New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, falling 28 cents to $74.84 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for July delivery shed 31 cents to $74.89.

Gold opened at $1,221.50-$1,222.50 an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Monday's close of $1,231.50-$1,232.50.

In other markets, Manila closed up 0.52%, or 16.98 points, to 3,282.42. SM Investments added 1.2% to P410 and Manila Water Co. rose 3.3% to P15.50.