This week the Asian stock exchanges started with a fall, led by South Korean car manufacturers, punished by the market for having overestimated the energy saving capacity of their cars. The fall was counterbalanced by theprogress of Samsung Electronics, which grew in favor of savers to the news of the possible launch of a new smartphone.
Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors Corp slipped more than 5% in Seoul, when they announced they would compensate American buyers for overestimating the energy savings of their latest models. Japanese rival Toyota Motor, which accounts for a quarter of sales in the US market, gained 1.%. Samsung grew by 1,4% after the "Maeil Business" newspaper revealed that the consumer electronics company could release a new Galaxy model between March and June of 2013.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index fell 0,2% to 122.30 as of 10:01 am in Tokyo before the opening of China and Hong Hong markets. The regional index has gained 7,6% since the beginning of the year on the back of growth stimuli carried out by the central banks of Europe, the United States, Japan and China. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0,2%, while South Korean Kospi slipped 0,4%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0,1%.
