KOSPI rose almost 1% on Wednesday to hit a record high of 5,361.85 points

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.

Asian markets were coming off a strong previous session, when stocks surged across the region.

KOSPI rose almost 1% on Wednesday to hit a record high of 5,361.85 points. The index soared around 7% on Tuesday, buoyed by sharp gains in heavyweight chipmakers and technology shares.

Nikkei 225 dropped 0.7% after jumping nearly 4% in the prior session.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite edged 0.1% higher, while the blue-chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 dropped 0.2%.

Hang Seng slid 0.5%.

S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%, while Straits Times Index traded flat.

Futures for Nifty 50 edged higher. The index climbed almost 3% on Tuesday after the U.S. signed a trade deal with India, sharply lowering tariffs.

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.

Elsewhere, U.S. stock market closed lower, led by losses in the technology sector as worries resurfaced over potential disruption from rapid advances in artificial intelligence.

The Nasdaq dropped more sharply than broader indexes, while investors positioned cautiously ahead of key earnings from major technology firms.

Alphabet is due to report results later on Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday, with both seen as crucial tests of the strength of advertising, cloud, and AI-related spending.