Asian stock markets were mixed on Wednesday, with South Korean shares hitting an all-time high, although advances were capped as a rally in technology stocks cooled after a weaker finish on Wall Street.
Overnight, Wall Street ended lower, led by losses in the technology sector as worries resurfaced over potential disruption from rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
Get premium insights on Asian stock markets, analyst predictions with InvestingPro The Nasdaq fell more sharply than broader indexes, while investors positioned cautiously ahead of key earnings from major U.S. technology firms.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is due to report results later on Wednesday, followed by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) on Thursday, with both seen as crucial tests of the strength of advertising, cloud, and AI-related spending.
Asian stocks mixed; KOSPI hits record high Asian markets were coming off a strong previous session, when stocks surged across the region.
South Korea’s KOSPI rose nearly 1% on Wednesday to hit a record high of 5,361.85 points. The index surged nearly 7% on Tuesday, buoyed by sharp gains in heavyweight chipmakers and technology shares.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% after climbing about 4% in the prior session.
Sentiment around AI remained volatile on Wednesday, as declines in U.S. tech shares overnight weighed on regional peers and prompted some profit-taking after recent sharp gains.
Elsewhere in Asia, China's Shanghai Composite edged 0.1% higher, while the blue-chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 fell 0.2%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.5%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5%, while Singapore's Straits Times Index traded flat.
Futures for India's Nifty 50 edged higher. The index jumped nearly 3% on Tuesday after the U.S. signed a trade deal with India, sharply lowering tariffs.
Fed overhaul concerns linger; China services PMI in focus Investors were also cautious about President Donald Trump's nomination of former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to serve as the next Fed chair.
Warsh is widely viewed as hawkish, raising concerns that U.S. interest rates could remain higher for longer.
In China, a private survey released on Wednesday showed the country’s services sector expanded in January at the fastest pace in three months.
While the reading offered some reassurance about underlying demand in the world’s second-largest economy, investors remained guarded amid lingering concerns over uneven growth and weak consumer confidence.
