Most Asia-Pacific markets fell in choppy trading on Wednesday, with South Korea's benchmark index wiping out more than half the gains made earlier this week, while investors digested a positive business sentiment survey from Japan.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 3.24% in the two sessions since Monday when it had gained over 5% after the country re-imposed a ban on short selling.
The Reuters Tankan poll showed Japanese manufacturers' business confidence improved for the first time since August and service-sector mood rose for a second month, underscoring a challenging outlook amid a patchy economic recovery.
In South Korea, the Kospi closed down 0.91% to end at the 2,421.62 level. The Kosdaq slipped 1.62% to 811.02.
Japan's Nikkei 225 ended 0.33% lower at 32,166.48, while the Topix fell 1.16% to close at 2,305.95.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.26% higher at 6,995.40.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended 0.58% at 17,568.46 while China's CSI 300 index slipped 0.24% to close at 3,611.07.
Wall Street's main indexes closed higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite clocking their longest winning streaks in nearly two years.
The S&P 500 closed 0.28% higher, while the Nasdaq jumped 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.17% at close.
The S&P 500 rose for a seventh consecutive day for the first time since its eight-day win streak in November 2021. The Nasdaq posted eight days of wins for the first time since an 11-day streak ended in November 2021. The Dow rose for a seventh straight session for its longest streak since July.
— CNBC's Samantha Subin and Brian Evans contributed to this report