Asian markets ended mixed on Wednesday, losing some of the optimism spurred from the Dow hitting a new record close overnight just shy of the psychological 20,000 level.
Australia's ASX 200 (^AXJO) closed up 0.4 percent or 22.4 points at 5,613.47, led by gains in its materials sub-index, which was up 1.21 percent and its all ordinaries gold sub-index, which gained 1.37 percent.
Shares of Bellamy's Australia, suspended for the past week week, were in the news on Wednesday as the company requested the suspension to extend for another three weeks, amid talks with key suppliers and manufacturers. Bellamy last traded at 6.68 Australian dollars ($4.86) per share.
"The fact that this situation has gone on for so long and that negotiations with suppliers are under way suggests that there may be material issues with the company," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note on Wednesday.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 (Nihon Keizai Shinbun: .N225) finished down 0.26 percent or 50.04 points at 19,444.49 after touching a one-year high earlier.
In South Korea, the Kospi (Korea Stock Exchange: .KS11) closed down 0.19 percent or 3.98 points at 2,037.96 while Taiwan's Taiex closed 0.41 percent or 38.15 points lower at 9,204.26.
Taiwanese multinational hardware and electronics company Acer (:2353-TW) fell 0.75 percent to 13.20 Taiwanese dollars per share. The company announced late Tuesday that it would put its Indian smartphone business on hold due to the recent demonetization policy and that it plans to buy back shares worth T$35.4 billion ($1.1 billion).
The South Korea-listed Samsung Securities (Korea Stock Exchange: 1636-KR) plunged 4.91 percent to 31,950 won on news that it would issue new shares worth 345 billion won ($296.28 million).
Chinese shares were also in positive territory, the Shanghai composite (Shanghai Stock Exchange: .SSEC) closed up 1.15 percent or 35.67 points at 3,138.54 and the Shenzhen composite (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJSZ) ended up 0.742 percent or 14.7 points at 1,996.03.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: .HSI) added 0.65 percent by mid-afternoon, snapping a four-session losing streak.
"It's a good day to be an equity bull however, it's a slow grind higher as opposed to an explosion in demand and the moves we are seeing in many markets are fairly subdued," Chris Weston, Angus Nicholson, chief market analyst at spreadbettor IG, said in a note on Tuesday.
U.S. blue-chips index Dow Jones industrial average (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJI) closed up 0.46 percent at 19,974.62, a mere 25 points away from the key level of 20,000.