Earlier investor sentiment improved as signs of possible talks between the U.S. and Iran lifted Wall Street overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.66 percent to 46,429.49, the S&P 500 gained 0.54 percent to 6,591.90, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.77 percent to 21,929.83.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.66 percent to 54,114.46 in morning trading, reflecting gains on Wall Street. China's Shanghai Composite also gained 1.3 percent to 3,931.84 and Taiwan's TAIEX climbed 0.83 percent to 33,707.60.
In Seoul, the benchmark KOSPI fell 1.41 percent to 5,562.60, while the junior KOSDAQ rose 0.58 percent to 1,166.28 shortly after the day's trading began.
The decline was mainly driven by weakness in semiconductor stocks, as Google's TurboQuant algorithm sparked concerns that improved data efficiency could reduce demand for memory chips.
Most major stocks traded lower, with Samsung Electronics falling 2.38 percent to 184,500 won, and SK Hynix dropping 2.91 percent to 966,000 won. Hyundai Motor declined 0.7 percent to 497,500 won, and LG Energy Solution slipped 1.02 percent to 390,000 won.
But Samsung Biologics rose 0.76 percent to 1,597,000 won, and Hanwha Aerospace and Doosan Enerbility both gained 0.29 percent, to 1,404,000 won and 102,900 won, respectively.
In the KOSDAQ, Samchundang Pharm rose 3.32 percent to 1,152,000 won, while Alteogen surged 11.16 percent to 398,500 won after a technology-licensing deal with global pharmaceutical company Biogen the previous day. Kolon TissueGene jumped 13.29 percent to 115,900 won, backed by optimism ahead of its final-stage, large-sale clinical trial for a knee osteoarthritis treatment.
The won weakened to 1,504.60 per dollar from 1,499.70 in the prior session.
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