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

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

*

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba gain after Q3 revenue beat

*

Baxter International ( BAX ) jumps after guiding FY profit above

estimates

*

Futures down: Dow 0.31%, S&P 500 0.3%, Nasdaq 0.26%

(Updates before markets open)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set

for a lower open on Thursday as investors avoided risky bets

after another bout of tariff threats from President Donald

Trump, while heavyweight retailer Walmart ( WMT ) plunged on a downbeat

fiscal 2026 sales forecast.

Walmart ( WMT ) slid 7.4% in premarket trading after the

world's largest retailer forecast sales for the fiscal year

ending January 2026 below estimates, as it anticipates

inflation-weary consumers to pull back after several quarters of

solid growth.

"Walmart ( WMT ) set a negative tone for expectations ... that's

adding to concerns that the improvement in fourth quarter

earnings were the result of weaker expectations for the first

quarter of 2025," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist

at CFRA.

The company's forecast dragged down other major retailers

such as Target ( TGT ), Costco Wholesale ( COST ) and Dollar

General ( DG ), which fell between 1.5% and 2.2%.

Stovall also added that a fall in Walmart's ( WMT ) earnings was the

confirmation of a "slowdown in retail sales that we saw last

week", and a warning about declining consumer confidence.

Apart from Walmart ( WMT ), the market is reacting to Trump's

Wednesday announcement of fresh tariffs over the next month or

sooner, adding lumber and forest products to previously

announced plans involving 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.

Separately, minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's January

policy meeting showed on Wednesday that Trump's initial policy

proposals raised inflationary concerns at the central bank.

Mixed readings of consumer and producers prices, along with

a sharp drop in retail sales last week, has led to uncertainty

around the Fed's rate outlook.

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.

On Thursday, data showed weekly jobless claims for the week

ended February 15 stood at 219,000, compared with an estimate of

215,000, as per economists polled by Reuters.

At least four Fed officials, including Chicago Fed President

Austan Goolsbee, are due to speak later in the day.

At 08:34 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 136 points,

or 0.31%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 18.5 points, or

0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 57.5 points, or

0.26%.

Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ), which provides governments

with services such as software that visualizes army positions,

fell 3.7% after the Pentagon said on Wednesday it was looking at

potential budget cuts for the fiscal year 2026.

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba Group advanced 11%

after the Chinese e-commerce firm topped expectations for

third-quarter revenue.

Hasbro ( HAS ) advanced 1.2% after the toymaker beat

quarterly profit and revenue estimates, while Baxter

International ( BAX ) gained 7.6% after the medical device maker

forecast 2025 profit above estimates.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru;

Editing by Maju Samuel and Shinjini Ganguli)