(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

Weekly jobless claims data due at 8:30 a.m. ET

*

Accenture ( ACN ) gains after upbeat annual revenue forecast

*

Futures off: Dow 0.35%, S&P 500 0.45%, Nasdaq 0.60%

(Updates with Accenture ( ACN ) results)

By Pranav Kashyap and Johann M Cherian

March 20 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock index futures reversed early gains on Thursday,

as worries about the fallout of U.S. tariff policies crept back

into markets a day after the Federal Reserve stuck to its

monetary easing plans for the year but warned of an uncertain

economic backdrop.

Global markets have been roiled with volatility over the

past few weeks as investors were concerned that President Donald

Trump's aggressive stance on trade policies could stoke

inflation, tip the economy into a recession and disrupt the

Fed's monetary policy easing cycle.

The Fed maintained current interest rates on Wednesday as

expected and reaffirmed its forecast for two 25 basis point

reductions by the year-end.

However, adding to markets' unease, the central bank also

projected slightly reduced growth and increased inflation for

the year, alongside a modest uptick in the unemployment rate by

2025.

"The Fed remains very concerned about the impact of tariffs

on inflation," said Achilleas Georgolopoulos, senior market

analyst at brokerage XM.

"Stagflation comes to mind - a combination of weak

growth and strong inflation - something the U.S. has not

experienced for a protracted period of time since the early

1980s."

Market participants are currently factoring in 63 basis

points of easing from the Fed this year, placing odds of 25 bps

rate cut in June at 60%, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool.

All the three major stock indexes close higher by over 1%

each in the previous session. However, the S&P 500 remains down

3.5% so far this year and the Nasdaq is lower by 8%. The

indexes' declines have erased all gains since President Donald

Trump's November election.

At 07:15 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 145

points, or 0.35%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 26 points,

or 0.45% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 117.75

points, or 0.60%.

The CBOE volatility index, also known as Wall

Street's fear gauge, gained 0.66 points and was last at 20.56.

Gold prices hit a new record high, another sign of

lingering investor worries.

A key focus for the markets will be the upcoming

implementation of new reciprocal and sectoral tariffs, slated to

take effect on April 2.

On the data front, markets will also assess a weekly report

on jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed's business index for

March.

Accenture ( ACN ) rose 1.25% in premarket trading after the

IT services provider raised its full-year revenue forecast on

artificial intelligence services demand.

Growth stocks reversed gains. Nvidia ( NVDA ) slipped 0.6%,

while Meta, Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Microsoft ( MSFT )

were down marginally.

U.S.-listed shares of PDD Holdings ( PDD ) dropped 6.3%

after the Temu parent missed estimates for fourth-quarter

revenue.