Asian markets open lower

The Asian markets are largely trading in the red with only Hang Seng and Nikkei indices as the exception.

The major losers in today's trades are Seoul Composite down 1.5%, Taiwan Weighted,Jakarta Composite and Straits Times losing 0.8% each.

On the other hand, the Nikkei Stock Average zoomed 154 points or up nearly 1.6%  at 10,004, recovering to reach 10,000 for the first time since the March 11 earthquake. The upswing can be attributed to the steady inflow of foreign investors. However, the outlook on corporate earnings of domestic firms continue to remain uncertain as a number of companies have postponed  their earnings announcements.

Aided by the gains in the property stocks the Hong Kong shares edged higher but soon pared some of its gains and is trading flat with a positive bias at 23,731.