(Updates prices in Europe afternoon trading)

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European stocks slip, U.S. futures fall

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Asian equities flip from early gains to losses

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Trump's back and forth on tariffs weighs on sentiment

By Harry Robertson and Kevin Buckland

LONDON/TOKYO, March 13 (Reuters) - European stocks and

U.S. futures fell on Thursday as investors turned their

attention back to escalating global trade tensions, although

further signs of an easing in U.S. price pressures limited

declines.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index dipped slightly

after rising 0.81% on Wednesday, while Germany's DAX index

was down 0.76%.

Futures pointed to a lower start for Wall Street at the

open, with S&P 500 futures losing 0.2% and Nasdaq

futures off 0.35%.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.58% and Japan's

Nikkei closed 0.1% lower, giving up earlier gains.

Global stocks, led by U.S. equities, have stumbled in recent

weeks, as U.S. President Donald Trump's stop-start tariff

policies sow uncertainty and worries about growth among

companies and investors.

Yet beaten-down U.S. tech shares led a rebound on Wall

Street on Wednesday after data showed U.S. consumer prices rose

at the slowest pace since October last month.

The inflation figures were closely watched following a

recent run of softer economic data, but ultimately did not

capture the impact from Trump's tariffs campaign.

U.S. producer prices in February also came in slightly

weaker than expected, data released on Thursday showed.

"Markets are still being driven by Trump tariffs and U.S.

growth concerns," said Mohit Kumar, chief European economist at

Jefferies.

"Beyond the growth and inflation impact of tariffs, they

create uncertainty, which is negative for investment and outlook

for any company involved in cross-border trades," he said. "Our

view has been that tariffs are not an inflation story but a

growth story."

Trump's increased tariffs on all U.S. steel and aluminium

imports took effect on Wednesday, drawing swift retaliation from

Canada and the European Union. On Thursday, he threatened a 200%

tariff on European wine and champagne.

Gold climbed for a third straight session to as high

as $2,949, closing in on the record high of $2,956.15 from

February 24.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.35% to 103.95, while

10-year Treasury yields ticked up 2 basis points to

4.332%.

Investors were also keeping an eye on wrangling over a

possible, partial, U.S. government shutdown.

The U.S. S&P 500 index is now down almost 5% for the year.

European stocks have fared better, supported by governments'

plans for major spending on defence and a potential Ukraine

peace deal, and are up more than 6% year to date despite

slipping in recent weeks.

"This... still strikes me as a market that simply cannot

hold onto any gains at the moment, which should be a big old red

flag for any potential dip buyers out there," said Michael

Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.

The yen was flat at 148.19 per dollar. Meanwhile

the euro fell 0.51% to $1.0833, retreating further

from the five-month high of $1.0947 touched on Tuesday.

Germany's outgoing lower house of parliament was holding a

special session on Thursday to debate a 500 billion euro

($543.85 billion) fund for infrastructure and sweeping changes

to borrowing rules.

Crude oil fell after rallying on Wednesday, with Brent crude

futures down 0.68% at $70.47 a barrel.

($1 = 0.9194 euros)