Asia Pacific stocks close:

Nikkei 225 8,489 -71.40 -0.83%

Hang Seng 18,813 +86.10 +0.46%

S&P/ASX 200 4,143 -45.16 -1.08%

Shanghai Composite 2,148 -20.94 -0.97%

Asian stocks retreated, snapping a two-day rally, after Australia’s services industry shrank and the euro weakened ahead of France’s plans to sells as much as 8 billion euros ($10.4 billion) of debt today. France plans to sell as much as 8 billion euros of debt today in the country’s first test this year of investor appetite for its bonds amid threats of a downgrade of its AAA rating by credit companies. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said the European Union is facing a recession of unknown scope.

Asian exporters declined as the euro dropped toward an 11- year low against the yen and fell to a four-month low against the won. A weaker euro cuts the value of European income at Japanese and South Korean companies when repatriated.

Sony Corp., a Japanese electronics maker that gets 21 percent of its sales from Europe, fell 2.2 percent as a weaker euro cut the earnings outlook for exporters.

Canon Inc., a camera maker that depends on Europe for almost a third of its sales, lost 1.2 percent to 3,390 yen.

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-largest maker of mobile phones by sales, sank 2.3 percent to 1.055 million won in Seoul.