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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 prices before the opening bell)

By Sruthi Shankar and Pranav Kashyap

April 2 (Reuters) -

Wall Street indexes were on track to open lower 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 inflation.

U.S. stocks have been volatile in recent days, with

investors preferring to hold safer assets such as gold and

government bonds over risky equities, as they speculate 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 has said that his reciprocal tariffs aim to equalize

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

other nations. But the format of the duties was unclear with

reports that Trump was considering a 20% universal tariff.

The uncertainty around the specifics of the tariffs is

heavily weighing on investors, prompting them to continue

reducing their allocations to the U.S., said Chris Beauchamp,

chief market analyst at IG Group.

"If there are hints that they're going for a less draconian

sort of tariffs, we could see some relief," he added.

By 8:23 a.m. ET, S&P 500 e-minis fell 52.5 points,

or 0.93%. Nasdaq 100 e-minis dropped 222.25 points, or

1.13%, and Dow e-minis were down 302 points, or 0.71%.

Futures tracking the domestically focused Russell 2000 index

were down 1.3%.

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

this week, slipped in premarket trading. Nvidia slid

2%, Microsoft slipped 1.8%.

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.

In economic data, U.S.

private payrolls

growth accelerated in March. Factory orders data are

scheduled for release later in the day.

Focus, however, 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 2.7% ahead of its

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

far this year.

Trump Media & Technology Group ( DJT ) slid 7.7% after the

parent of social media platform Truth Social announced stock

offering plans.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru;

Editing by Anil D'Silva)