09:01 AM EST, 02/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures posted narrow losses ahead of Thursday's opening bell amid concerns about trade tariffs and geopolitical matters.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures, S&P 500 futures, and Nasdaq futures were all down around 0.3%.

Traders weighed comments from US President Donald Trump that he plans to escalate certain tariffs, including a 25% hike in imported lumber. Trump also referred to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky as a "dictator" and blamed him for the Russian invasion.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 0.5% at $76.37 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.5% at $72.44 per barrel.

New unemployment claims, released at 8:30 am ET, rose to 219,000 in the week ended Feb. 15 from 214,000 in the preceding week, compared with estimates compiled by Bloomberg for 215,000. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index fell to 18.1 in February from a 44.3 reading in January, compared with estimates for 14.3.

Forecasters see the index of leading economic indicators, due at 10 am ET, declining 0.1% in January to match December's decrease.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.2% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 1.6% lower, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.02% lower. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.4%, while Germany's DAX index was 0.3% higher in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, Xos (XOS) shares were up 27%, a day after the company said its Xos Hub electric vehicle charging unit was added to the General Services Administration Schedule, an ordering system for government buyers.

On the losing side, Indivior ( INDV ) shares were down more than 17% after the company reported lower Q4 adjusted earnings.