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

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

*

Futures off: Dow 0.10%, S&P 500 0.16%, Nasdaq 0.28%

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Dollar General ( DG ) forecasts downbeat FY comparable sales

growth

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Intel ( INTC ) gains after naming chip industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan

CEO

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Adobe falls after dull quarterly revenue forecast

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Feb's PPI data due at 08:30 a.m. E.T

(Updates with analyst comment)

By Johann M Cherian and Pranav Kashyap

March 13 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock index futures wavered on Thursday as investors

grew anxious over a potential partial government shutdown and

the heightened uncertainty stemming from President Donald

Trump's erratic tariff policies.

The markets, already on edge, were also roiled as the

deadline to pass a government

funding bill

in the U.S. Senate approached. If it goes through, the bill

will keep the U.S. government operational through September 30.

The Republican-led House passed the bill earlier in the

week, but Senate Democrats are pushing for a short-term

extension to allow for more comprehensive budget negotiations.

"The potential government shutdown... clearly adds to

this cocktail of corrosive policy uncertainty," said Ben

Laidler, head of equity strategy at Bradesco BBI.

"It's on top of everything else and is potentially the

straw that breaks the camel's back here."

Markets were hit hard earlier this week by Trump's

aggressive trade restrictions, sparking fears that a multi-front

trade war could ramp up domestic inflation and potentially stall

economic growth.

In his latest tariff threat, the U.S. president said he

would impose additional penalties on European Union imports if

the EU enacted retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods next month.

Trump's fluctuating policies have rattled investors.

Brokerages have downgraded their outlooks for U.S. equities and

multiple companies have issued downbeat forecasts.

Dollar General ( DG ) forecast annual comparable sales

growth

largely below estimates

. Its shares were last up 5.5% in choppy premarket trading.

American Eagle Outfitters ( AEO ) forecast annual

revenue below expectations, sending the apparel maker's shares

down 9.5%.

At 07:16 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 42

points, or 0.10%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 9 points, or

0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 55 points, or

0.28%.

Although a slight cooling in consumer inflation offered

a temporary breather on Wednesday, it was insufficient to offset

Wall Street's heavy losses this week.

As the benchmark S&P 500 index teeters on the brink of

its longest weekly losing streak in seven months, the focus is

now on the February Producer Price Index data, which is

scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The core figure, including some components that feed

into the U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred Personal Consumption

Expenditure index, is expected to have increased 3.5% in

February, compared with a 3.6% rise in the prior month.

A weekly jobless claims report is also on tap later in

the day.

Investors expect the central bank to leave policy rates

unchanged when it meets next week, according to data compiled by

LSEG.

Among other stocks, Intel ( INTC ) jumped 11.9% after the

beleaguered chipmaker appointed industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan its

chief executive officer.

Adobe dropped 4.9% after the Photoshop-maker

forecast quarterly revenue in line with estimates.

SentinelOne ( S ) lost 13.2% after the cybersecurity company

forecast its first-quarter and annual revenue below Street

estimates.

Shares of truck- and parts-makers such as Paccar ( PCAR )

and Cummins fell 5% and 2.2%, respectively, after the

Environmental Protection Agency launched efforts to undo the

previous administration's vehicle-emissions rules.