By Stella Qiu

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Global stocks fell on Thursday, led by heavy losses in Japan and South Korea, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on auto imports, with European stock futures also pointing to a lower open.

Trump late on Wednesday announced plans for long-promised 25% tariffs on automotive imports. Analysts expect the move to hit European, Japanese and South Korean companies at most.

Japan's Nikkei fell 1%, while South Korea's KOSPI dropped 1.3%. Toyota Motor shares tumbled 2.6%, and both Mazda Motor and Subaru plunged about 6%.

European stock markets are set for a lower open, with pan-European STOXX 50 futures down 0.5% and FTSE futures 0.2% lower.

Trump also said planned reciprocal tariffs on all countries will be "lenient". On China, he said he may give Beijing some reduction in tariffs to get a deal done to sell TikTok.

Chinese shares outperformed the region, with the blue chip index up 0.4% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallying 1%. Chinese EV giant BYD jumped 2.3%.

Jason Chan, a senior investment strategist at Bank of East Asia, said Chinese automakers have limited exposure to the U.S. market, while Trump's comment about TikTok suggest there is room for negotiations.

"It now looks like he's more aggressive toward other markets instead of focusing all his efforts on China, so that could somehow help cushion the sentiment for China and Hong Kong," said Chan.

Gains in Chinese shares helped MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan to trade flat on Thursday.

Wall Street futures also recouped earlier losses and inched up 0.1%. Wall Street already ended sharply lower on expectations of such a move, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq slumping more than 2% on Wednesday.

Following the tariff announcement, U.S. automakers lost ground after the bell. General Motors slumped 6%, while shares in Ford fell almost 5%.

"It is not feeling at this point like we are going to see a day of complete carnage out there," said Tony Sycamore, analyst at IG.

"I think the timing has caught people off guard, but I don't think the detail of the announcement so much caught people off guard... so now it's just how the Europeans, South Koreans and the Japanese choose to respond."

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said all options were on the table in response to the U.S. tariffs. Canada said it could impose retaliatory duties, while the European Union expressed regret but was seeking negotiated solutions.

Analysts have warned Trump's tariff plans could stoke U.S. inflation, with the Federal Reserve already pausing its policy easing cycle.