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Futures down: Dow 0.05%, S&P 500 0.29%, Nasdaq 0.43%

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WNS rises after Capgemini announces $3.3 bln buyout

(Updates with prices, analyst comment)

By Pranav Kashyap and Nikhil Sharma

July 7 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock index futures slipped on Monday as murky U.S.

tariff policies kept investors on edge, while Tesla shares took

a hit after CEO Elon Musk announced his plans to launch a

political party.

The White House is close to finalizing several trade pacts

in coming days and will notify other countries of higher tariff

rates by July 9, President Donald Trump said on Sunday, with the

higher rates set to take effect on August 1.

Trump also threatened an extra 10% tariff on countries

aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of the

BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

In April, Trump unveiled a base tariff rate of 10% on most

countries and additional duties ranging up to 50%, subsequently

pushing the Nasdaq into a bear market.

Although he later delayed the effective date for all but 10%

until July 9. The new date offers countries a three-week

reprieve.

The market's reaction was cautious, as investors weighed the

lack of fresh details and braced for light summer trading in a

week light on economic data - except for Thursday's initial

jobless claims.

At 7:05 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 22

points, or 0.05%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 18.25

points, or 0.29%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 100

points, or 0.43%.

Monday's pullback also comes after the S&P 500 and

the Nasdaq closed at record highs on Thursday following

a surprisingly strong jobs report that pointed to resilience in

the labor market.

The Dow closed the holiday-shortened week about 0.5%

away from its record high.

Among megacap stocks, Tesla dropped 6.7% in

premarket trading after Musk announced the formation of a U.S.

political party, marking a new escalation in his feud with

Trump.

"Although Tesla's AI future and the launch of its Robotaxi

are seen as positive developments for Tesla, in the short term,

Musk's political ambitions could be a major overhang for this

stock," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) was on track to become the world's most

valuable company in history, with the chipmaker's market

capitalization nearing $4 trillion. Its shares were down 0.7% on

the day.

Shares of WNS jumped 14.3% after the French IT

services firm Capgemini agreed to buy the outsourcing

firm for $3.3 billion in cash.

Meanwhile, Trump's chaotic tariff policies and what that

might do to economic growth and inflation have kept the Federal

Reserve from cutting interest rates, and minutes of its June

meeting, scheduled for release on Wednesday should offer more

clues on the interest rate outlook.

Traders have now priced out a July rate cut, with September

odds at 66%, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Attention is on the massive tax-cut and spending bill

approved by Republicans in the House of Representatives after

markets closed on Thursday. The bill is to add more than $3

trillion to the country's deficit over the next decade.

While the stimulus could juice economic growth, it also

threatens to stoke inflation, making the Fed's next move harder

to predict.