09:03 AM EDT, 04/03/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were falling ahead of Thursday's opening bell amid fears US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff policy will spark a global trade war.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 2.9%, S&P 500 futures were 3.5% lower, and Nasdaq futures were falling 4.2%.

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday tariffs of at least 10% across all countries. China and the European Union already vowed to implement countermeasures.

Oil prices fell, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 6.5% at $70.05 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 7.2% lower at $66.56 per barrel.

The US trade deficit, released at 8:30 am ET, narrowed to $122.66 billion for February from $130.65 billion in January, compared with estimates compiled by Bloomberg for a $123.5 billion gap. New unemployment claims fell to 219,000 in the week ended March 29 versus estimates for no change at 225,000.

Forecasters see the Institute for Supply Management services index, due at 10 am ET, coming in at 53.0 for March versus 53.5 previously.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 2.8% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 1.5% lower, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.2% lower. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was down 1.3% and Germany's DAX index was 2.1% lower in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, RH (RH) shares were down 31% pre-bell after the company reported overnight fiscal Q4 earnings and sales that trailed analysts' estimates.

On the winning side, Lamb Weston Holdings ( LW ) shares were 5.5% higher after the company posted fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings and sales that topped analysts' estimates.