(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures fell on Thursday after a blistering rally in the previous session following U.S. President Donald Trump's move to temporarily lower the heavy tariffs on dozens of countries, while raising the levies on China.

The U-turn came less than 24 hours after steep new tariffs took effect on most trading partners, lifting the S&P 500 to its biggest single-day percentage gain since 2008. The Nasdaq posted its biggest one-day jump since 2001. 

Trump also announced a 90-day pause on many of his new reciprocal tariffs, but raised them to 125% on Chinese imports from 104% on Wednesday. Beijing had slapped 84% tariffs on U.S. imports to match Trump's earlier levy.

"The trade war is now turning into a direct confrontation between the U.S. and China...," Rabobank analysts said.

"We could again be seeing escalation and de-escalation at the same time, pulling markets in different directions." 

Meanwhile, the European Union said that it had agreed on a 90-day pause on counter tariffs on U.S. goods, which were due on April 15.

Despite Wednesday's surge, the S&P 500 and the Dow are about 4% below levels seen before the reciprocal tariffs were announced last week. 

At 06:44 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 428 points, or 1.05%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 79.75 points, or 1.45% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 335.25 points, or 1.74%.

Most megacap and growth stocks slid in premarket trade after recording robust gains in the last session, with Tesla sliding 3.2% and Nvidia down 2.9%. 

Investors await a reading of consumer prices data for March due later in the day amid worries that Trump's tariffs could hamper global growth and spur inflation. 

Economists polled by Reuters expect headline inflation on a yearly basis to ease to 2.6% from 2.8% a month ago. 

"The drag from trade policy is likely to be somewhat lesser than before, and the prospect of a recession is a closer call... The Fed will have even more incentive to wait longer for policy uncertainties to be resolved," said analysts at J.P.Morgan.

Traders see at least three 25-basis point cuts from the Fed this year, starting in June, according to LSEG data. 

A weekly jobless claims report will also be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and at least six Fed officials are set to make public appearances throughout the day.

Meanwhile, U.S. bonds markets were sanguine after a sharp selloff in the last session, with the yield on the 10-year note dropping to 4.3% from its February peaks. 

The CBOE Volatility Index - seen as Wall Street's "fear gauge" - fell from its August highs and was last at 35.92 points. 

U.S. earnings season could offer more insights into the health of corporate America. Big banks such as JPMorgan Chase will report first-quarter results on Friday.

Among individual shares, automakers General Motors and Ford fell about 3% each after the previous session's gains. Downgrades from UBS and Goldman Sachs on the stocks added to their declines.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)