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Futures down: Dow 0.42%, S&P 500 0.48%, Nasdaq 0.61%

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Trump's tariff announcement at 4:00 pm

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February factory orders data due at 10:00 am

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Tesla Q1 deliveries due later in the day

(Updates with Russell futures move, China measures)

By Sruthi Shankar and Pranav Kashyap

April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dropped on

Wednesday as investors awaited details of U.S. President Donald

Trump's tariff plans to assess their impact on the global

economy, corporate earnings and financial markets.

Wall Street's main indexes have been volatile in recent

days, with investors preferring to hold safer assets such as

gold and government bonds over risky equities, as they about the

extent of economic damage from the U.S.-led tariff war.

Details of Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff plans were still

being formulated and closely held ahead of a White House Rose

Garden announcement ceremony scheduled for 4 p.m. ET (2000 GMT).

Futures extended losses after a Bloomberg report said China

has taken measures to limit its companies from making

investments in the U.S. in an effort to gain more leverage in

potential trade talks with the Trump administration.

Trump said that his reciprocal tariff plans aim to equalize

the comparatively lower U.S. tariff rates with those imposed by

other nations. However, the structure of these duties remains

ambiguous amidst reports suggesting Trump might be contemplating

a universal tariff of 20%.

"Perhaps the most important question is whether this

announcement will tip the scales towards a global recession,"

said Oliver Blackbourn, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson

Investors.

"While we believe this is unlikely at present, it is

important to acknowledge that U.S. equities are relatively

expensive, which could make them more vulnerable to any negative

surprises."

By 6:55 a.m. ET, U.S. S&P 500 E-minis were down 27.5

points, or 0.48%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 119.75

points, or 0.61%, Dow E-minis were down 178 points,

or 0.42%.

Futures tracking the domestically focused Russell 2000 index

were down 0.6%.

Tech stocks, which have been at the forefront of the selloff

this week, slipped in premarket trading. Nvidia slid

1.4%, Microsoft slipped 0.6%, while Amazon.com ( AMZN )

dropped 1.1%.

U.S. stocks have come under sharp selling pressure this

year, with the benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq

falling 10% from their record highs last month and

confirming a correction.

The S&P 500 shed 4.6% in the first quarter, its biggest

three-month decline since July 2022.

March U.S. private payrolls and factory orders data are

scheduled for release later in the day. However, focus is on the

crucial monthly non-farm payrolls data as well as Fed Chair

Jerome Powell's speech on Friday for insights on the health of

the U.S. economy and trajectory of interest rates.

Traders are betting on three rate cuts from the Fed this

year but the prospect of tariff-induced inflationary pressures

has clouded the outlook.

Among stocks, Tesla dipped 2.4% ahead of its

first-quarter deliveries numbers. The stock has fallen 33.5% so

far this year.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru;

Editing by Anil D'Silva)