While our S&P/ASX 200 is currently down 0.6 per cent, in China the Shanghai Composite Index is 0.8 per cent lower today, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 0.9 per cent. Meanwhile, in Tokyo the Nikkei index is flat today, down 0.06 per cent. Other news out of Japan today is that former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has been refused bail again even after the fallen car titan offered to wear an electronic tracker and be monitored by guards to end his custody that has now lasted more than two months.

Bloomberg reports: The rejection by a Tokyo court is a win for the prosecutors, who can now keep Ghosn detained as they continue to build their case ahead of an eventual trial that could be as long as six months away. In his latest bid for bail, the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman had offered to wear a tracker and be watched by private security personnel, both at his own expense.

Ghosn has been in custody since Nov. 19, accused of financial crimes that could put him behind bars for decades. The auto titan has been indicted for understating his income at Nissan by tens of millions of dollars and transferring personal trading losses to the carmaker. Nissan also claims that Ghosn misused company funds, including for homes from Brazil to Lebanon, and hired his sister on an advisory contract. Ghosn has denied wrongdoing.

His downfall, as sudden as it was unexpected, has roiled the two-decade alliance between Nissan and France's Renault SA, which he dominated as chairman of both companies and of the entity that governs their partnership. France's finance minister and Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa were both quick to downplay a report in the Nikkei newspaper over the weekend that the French side was planning to put the two carmakers under one holding structure.