European stocks opened soft, with markets in France, Spain and Italy declining, while auto shares were pressured by US tariff threats.The pan-European STOXX 600 Index fell 1.27 points or 0.2% to 610.28. The UK market was closed for a bank holiday. France's CAC 40 Index fell 39 points or 0.5% to 8,075; Germany's DAX Index rose 17 points or less than 0.1% to 24,309; Spain's IBEX 35 Index dropped 153 points or 0.9% to 17,627; Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 243 points or 0.5% to 48,003.Finland telecom equipment maker Nokia gained more than 7% after its fixed network-related business was acquired. US President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on European automobiles to 25%. Auto parts supplier Continental slid 4.4%, while German carmakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz each fell 2%, and Volkswagen declined 1.5%. Semiconductor stock STMicroelectronics rose 4.4%.In US stock futures, DJIA futures fell 123 points or 0.2% to 49,523; S&P 500 futures rose 1 point to 7,259; Nasdaq 100 futures gained 46 points or 0.2% to 27,882.In the Asia-Pacific region, mainland China and Japan markets were closed for holidays. Hong Kong stocks rose 1.2%. Taiwan and South Korea markets surged 4.6% and 5% respectively to record highs. Australia fell 0.4%, New Zealand gained 0.5%, while India and Singapore last rose 0.4% and 0.3%. (fc/u)
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