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Illumina ( ILMN ) falls after China bans imports of its gene

sequencers

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Target ( TGT ) drops on bleak FY forecast

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Tesla's China-made EV sales fall 49.2% in February

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Futures down: Dow 0.37%, S&P 500 0.72%, Nasdaq 0.85%

(Updates before markets open)

By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta

March 4 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes were set to extend recent losses

on Tuesday, as investors stayed clear of riskier assets on

expectations that President Donald Trump's tariffs on trade

partners could intensify a growth-denting global trade war.

At 8:15 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 161

points, or 0.37%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 42 points,

or 0.72% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 175 points, or

0.85%.

The CBOE market volatility index edged up 1.48 points

after hitting a two-month high at 24.31 in the previous session.

The benchmark S&P 500 logged its biggest one-day drop

since mid-December and the Nasdaq closed lower by about

9% from its all-time high on Monday after the U.S. imposed

tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, and doubled duties on

Chinese goods. A standoff between the countries could upend

nearly $2.2 trillion in two-way annual trade.

China responded with additional tariffs on U.S. imports and

Canada has vowed a response.

Ford and General Motors ( GM ), that have vast supply

chains across north America, slipped about 1.3% each in

premarket trading.

Heavyweight megacaps such as Nvidia ( NVDA ), Microsoft ( MSFT )

and Meta also lost between 1.6% and 3%.

Illumina ( ILMN ) fell 4% after China banned imports of

genetic sequencers from the medical equipment maker, just

minutes after Trump's tariff announcement.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies Bilibili

and JD.com rose 3.5% and 2%, respectively, rebounding

from Monday's losses.

"There are concerns that (tariffs are) going to put a

lot of pressure on the economy and the markets overall," said

Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist at Blue Chip Daily

Trend Report.

"Sectors that will be hit the hardest would probably be

the industrial sector because they're very cyclical, the small

caps ... and then (the highly valued) tech stocks."

Investors are pricing in that the surcharges will fan

inflation pressures, dampen demand and eat into corporate

profits at a time when recent data has resurfaced expectations

of a stalling economy. Futures tracking the domestically focused

small-caps Russell 2000 index fell 1%.

Morgan Stanley estimates that tariffs on imports from

Mexico, Canada and China through 2026 could reduce earnings for

the S&P 500 by 5% to 7%.

Executives are also holding back on investments and

expenditures as they wait for more clarity on Trump's upcoming

policies. Analysts say April 1 will be the date when the

president is likely to announce his full-fledged global trade

policy.

Interest rate futures point to the Federal Reserve

delivering at least three 25 basis points interest rate cuts by

December, up from about two on Monday, as traders bet on the

likelihood that slowing growth could nudge the central bank to

lower borrowing costs.

New York Fed President John Williams' comments later in the

day will be parsed for the central bank's stance on monetary

policy.

U.S. shares of bullion miners such as Sibanye Stillwater

and Gold Fields added about 2% each, tracking

higher gold prices as markets flocked to the safe-haven asset.

Tesla fell 3.3% after data showed that the

automaker's China-made electric vehicles sales fell 49.2% in

February.

Target ( TGT ) lost 1.8% after the retailer forecast

full-year comparable sales below estimates.