Updated at: 0957 PST, Thursday, November 24, 2011
 HONG KONG: Asian shares were mixed on Thursday as fears about Europe's debt crisis deepened after Germany, considered the pillar of the eurozone, failed to sell all its bonds in an auction.
While some markets managed to eke out small gains thanks to bargain-buying, the ongoing woes in Europe as well as the slowing global economy pushed investors to the sidelines.
Tokyo fell 1.38 percent by the break as it played catch-up with regional losses on Wednesday, when it was closed for a public holiday.
Hong Kong lost 0.44 percent and Shanghai gave up 0.68 percent. But Seoul rose 0.22 percent and Sydney was 0.41 percent higher.
A German government bond auction Wednesday drew some of the weakest demand since the introduction of the euro, signalling diminishing investor appetite even for the safest eurozone assets.
Berlin only managed to draw bids of 3.9 billion euros for its six billion euro 10-year bond auction, indicating that investors are now sceptical about even the safest assets in the eurozone.
The failure comes days after Moody's warned that France's weak growth and exposure to European debt could see it lose its cherished AAA debt rating, which would send its borrowing costs soaring. (AFP)
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