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Payments firm Block falls as Q4 profit misses estimates

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UnitedHealth ( UNH ) drops after report of DOJ investigation

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Futures: Dow down 0.53%, S&P 500 up 0.03%, Nasdaq up 0.36%

(Updates before markets open)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set

for a mixed open on Friday, a day after Walmart's ( WMT ) dour forecast

hit sentiment, while UnitedHealth ( UNH ) slid after a report that the

U.S. Justice Department is investigating the healthcare

conglomerate.

UnitedHealth ( UNH ) dropped 11.4% in premarket trading

after the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Justice

Department has launched an investigation into the company's

Medicare billing practices in recent months.

Shares of other health insurers were also hit, with CVS

Health ( CVS ) down 4.9% and Humana losing 5.3%.

Walmart ( WMT ) edged 0.2% higher after dropping more than

6% on Thursday - its biggest single-day decline in more than a

year - after guiding sales and profit for the year below

estimates, citing the need for caution in navigating an

uncertain geopolitical landscape.

The retail giant's plunge, along with jitters around

President Donald Trump's tariff threats and uncertainty over the

Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook, led to declines in all

three indexes.

"As long as the economy is strong, job market is strong and

consumers stay resilient, then many of the president's policies

will probably not be deleterious on the economy," said Jamie

Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group.

"But if the consumer starts to falter, then it

multiplies the difficulties of a tariff regime."

Earlier this week, Trump said he will announce fresh

tariffs over the next month or sooner, adding lumber and forest

products to previously announced plans to impose duties on

imported cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

The S&P 500 is set for a flat weekly finish, receding

somewhat after hitting all-time highs twice this week, while the

Dow and the Nasdaq are on pace for mild weekly

declines.

On Friday, preliminary February economic activity surveys

published by S&P Global will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, while

the final reading of consumer sentiment calculated by the

University of Michigan is due at 10 a.m. ET.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) reading, the

Fed's preferred gauge for inflation, would be on the radar next

week after consumer and producer prices reading earlier this

month painted a mixed picture.

Traders currently see at least one 25-basis-point interest

rate cut by the Fed this year, with a 60% chance of an

additional cut, according to LSEG data.

Several Fed officials on Thursday signaled they still feel

that cooling U.S. inflation will in time allow the U.S. central

bank to deliver further interest rate cuts.

Comments from Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson are due later

in the day.

At 8:32 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 233 points,

or 0.53%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 2 points, or 0.03%,

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 78.75 points, or 0.36%.

Block slid 9.1% after the payment firm's

fourth-quarter profit fell short of estimates.

Akamai Technologies ( AKAM ) dropped 9.5% as the

cybersecurity company forecast annual 2025 revenue below

estimates.