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Futures down: Dow 0.13%, S&P 500 0.22%, Nasdaq 0.29%

Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dipped on

Thursday as investors shied away from risk-taking after another

bout of tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, while

geopolitical worries and a cautious Federal Reserve further

dented sentiment.

Trump said on Wednesday he will announce fresh tariffs over

the next month or sooner, adding lumber and forest products to

previously announced plans to impose duties on imported cars,

semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

Since returning to office four weeks ago, Trump has imposed

an additional 10% tariff on all imports from China. He also

announced, and then delayed for a month 25% tariffs on goods

from Mexico and non-energy imports from Canada.

Last week, he unveiled plans to slap reciprocal tariffs on

all countries that have tariffs on U.S. goods.

Amid rising speculation on a peace deal between Russia and

Ukraine, Trump on Wednesday denounced Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a "dictator" and warned he had to move

quickly to secure peace or risk losing his country.

Traditional safe-haven assets gold and the Japanese

yen trended higher, while Treasury yields - which move

inversely to prices - also edged lower.

Meanwhile, minutes from the Fed's January policy meeting

showed on Wednesday that Trump's initial policy proposals raised

inflationary concerns at the central bank.

Policymakers agreed they should hold interest rates steady

until it was clear that inflation, largely stalled since the

middle of 2024, would dependably fall to the central bank's 2%

target.

The S&P 500 crawled to a record closing high for the

second time this week on Wednesday, as markets took stock of the

Fed's meeting minutes and Trump's directives.

"Trump continues to announce new policy plans on many

fronts, but broader financial market moves in response to such

plans have not been huge lately," analysts at Nordea wrote in a

note.

"Given all the uncertainties involved, it is too early to

draw definite conclusions on the outcomes."

A weekly jobless claims reading and comments from at least

four Fed officials, including Chicago Fed President Austan

Goolsbee, are due later in the day.

Results from retail giant Walmart ( WMT ), a bellwether for

how the American consumer is faring, are due before the bell.

Toymaker Hasbro and Chinese e-commerce firm

Alibaba ( BABA ) are some of the other prominent companies

reporting earnings before markets open.

At 4:46 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 60 points,

or 0.13%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 13.5 points, or

0.22%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 64.5 points, or

0.29%.

Most megacap and growth stocks ticked lower in premarket

trading, though Microsoft ( MSFT ) was an outlier with a 1%

advance.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) on Wednesday unveiled a new chip that it said

showed quantum computing is "years, not decades" away.

Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ), which provides governments

with services such as software that visualizes army positions,

fell 2.2% after the Pentagon said on Wednesday it was looking at

potential budget cuts for the fiscal year 2026.