Japan's Nikkei is down 0.5 percent.
Korea's Kospi is down 0.2 percent.
Moments ago, we got two key pieces of economic data.
Japan's Tankan survey, a measure of business sentiment, was disappointing across the board.
South Korea's exports, the economic canary in the coal mine, climbed by just 0.4 percent, which was far short of expectations for a 1.8 percent gain.
Later, China will be publishing its March manufacturing PMI reports.