Asian stock markets were mixed on Wednesday, with gains capped as a recent rally in technology shares lost momentum following a weaker close on Wall Street. South Korean equities stood out, with the benchmark index climbing to a fresh record high.
U.S. markets ended lower overnight, led by declines in technology stocks as concerns resurfaced over potential disruption from rapid advances in artificial intelligence. The tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed broader indexes, while investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of key earnings reports from major U.S. technology companies.
Attention is focused on upcoming results from Alphabet and Amazon, due later this week, which are expected to provide important insight into trends in advertising, cloud computing, and AI-related investment.
Asian stocks mixed as KOSPI hits record high
Asian markets were coming off a strong previous session, when equities rallied broadly across the region. South Korea’s KOSPI rose nearly 1% on Wednesday to reach an all-time high of 5,361.85 points, extending gains after a nearly 7% surge on Tuesday driven by heavyweight chipmakers and technology stocks.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.7% after jumping around 4% in the prior session, as profit-taking emerged following recent sharp gains. Sentiment around artificial intelligence remained volatile, with overnight losses in U.S. tech stocks weighing on regional peers.
Elsewhere, China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1%, while the CSI 300 index fell 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.5%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5%, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index traded largely flat.
India’s Nifty 50 futures edged higher after the index jumped nearly 3% on Tuesday, following the signing of a U.S.–India trade agreement that significantly reduced tariffs.
Fed leadership concerns and China data in focus
Investor caution was also fueled by Donald Trump’s nomination of former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair. Warsh is widely seen as hawkish, raising concerns that U.S. interest rates could stay higher for longer.
In China, a private survey released on Wednesday showed the country’s services sector expanded in January at its fastest pace in three months. While the data offered some reassurance about underlying demand in the world’s second-largest economy, investors remained cautious amid persistent worries about uneven growth and subdued consumer confidence.
