US STOCKS-Futures struggle amid shutdown concerns, tariff unease

By Johann M Cherian and Pranav Kashyap

March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures wavered on Thursday as investors grew anxious over a potential partial government shutdown and the heightened uncertainty stemming from President Donald Trump's erratic tariff policies.

The markets, already on edge, were also roiled as the deadline to pass a government funding bill in the U.S. Senate approached. If it goes through, the bill will keep the U.S. government operational through September 30.

The Republican-led House passed the bill earlier in the week, but Senate Democrats are pushing for a short-term extension to allow for more comprehensive budget negotiations.

"The potential government shutdown... clearly adds to this cocktail of corrosive policy uncertainty," said Ben Laidler, head of equity strategy at Bradesco BBI.

"It's on top of everything else and is potentially the straw that breaks the camel's back here."

Markets were hit hard earlier this week by Trump's aggressive trade restrictions, sparking fears that a multi-front trade war could ramp up domestic inflation and potentially stall economic growth.

In his latest tariff threat, the U.S. president said he would impose additional penalties on European Union imports if the EU enacted retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods next month.

Trump's fluctuating policies have rattled investors. Brokerages have downgraded their outlooks for U.S. equities and multiple companies have issued downbeat forecasts.

Dollar General DG.N forecast annual comparable sales growth largely below estimates . Its shares were last up 5.5% in choppy premarket trading.

American Eagle Outfitters AEO.N forecast annual revenue below expectations, sending the apparel maker's shares down 9.5%.

At 07:16 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 42 points, or 0.10%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 9 points, or 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 55 points, or 0.28%.

Although a slight cooling in consumer inflation offered a temporary breather on Wednesday, it was insufficient to offset Wall Street's heavy losses this week.

As the benchmark S&P 500 index teeters on the brink of its longest weekly losing streak in seven months, the focus is now on the February Producer Price Index data, which is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The core figure, including some components that feed into the U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred Personal Consumption Expenditure index, is expected to have increased 3.5% in February, compared with a 3.6% rise in the prior month.

A weekly jobless claims report is also on tap later in the day.

Investors expect the central bank to leave policy rates unchanged when it meets next week, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Among other stocks, Intel INTC.O jumped 11.9% after the beleaguered chipmaker appointed industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan its chief executive officer.

Adobe ADBE.O dropped 4.9% after the Photoshop-maker forecast quarterly revenue in line with estimates.

SentinelOne S.N lost 13.2% after the cybersecurity company forecast its first-quarter and annual revenue below Street estimates.

Shares of truck- and parts-makers such as Paccar PCAR.O and Cummins CMI.N fell 5% and 2.2%, respectively, after the Environmental Protection Agency launched efforts to undo the previous administration's vehicle-emissions rules.