US STOCKS-Trump's incoming tariffs rattle US stock futures

By Sruthi Shankar and Pranav Kashyap

March 31 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures tumbled on Monday as investors shied away from risky assets amid mounting concerns that the Trump administration's upcoming announcement of extensive tariff plans could hurt the global economy.

Global stocks fell sharply, gold prices scaled new highs and U.S. Treasuries rallied after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that reciprocal tariffs he is set to announce this week will include all nations.

At 7:00 a.m. ET (1200 GMT), U.S. S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 fell 51.25 points, or 0.91%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 dropped 246.5 points, or 1.27%, and Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 251 points, or 0.6%.

Futures tracking the domestically focused Russell 2000 index RTYcv1 were down 1.2%.

U.S. stock markets have succumbed to sharp selling pressure this year as Trump announced tariffs on some of the United States' main trading partners, raising fears of a global economic slowdown and a spike in inflation.

Trump, who sees tariffs as a way of protecting the domestic economy from unfair global competition, has promised to unveil a massive tariff plan on Wednesday, which he has dubbed "Liberation Day".

"We doubt 'Liberation Day' is going to mark the end around tariff uncertainty ... the potential is in fact higher for the April 2 deadline to introduce even more uncertainty, and hence the prolonged broad-based weakness in leading indicators," said HSBC's Chief Multi-Asset Strategist Max Kettner.

Wall Street's main indexes were set for big monthly and quarterly declines, with the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX and the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC set for their worst quarterly performances in about three years.

The blue-chip Dow Index .DJI is teetering just about 2% away from confirming a correction, or a 10% decline from its all-time high. Meanwhile, the other two major Wall Street indexes have already entered correction territory earlier this month.

Tech stocks were at the forefront of the selloff on Monday, with Nvidia NVDA.O sliding 3.8% in premarket trading. Microsoft MSFT.O fell 1.4% and Tesla TSLA.O slid 5%.

The CBOE Volatility index .VIX, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, touched a more than two-week high at 24.04 points.

Goldman Sachs raised its U.S. recession probability to 35% from 20% and cut its 2025 GDP growth forecast to 1.5% from 2.0%. Goldman also expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates thrice this year, up from its previous forecast of two, expecting heightened recession risks due to U.S. tariffs.

The focus this week will also be on a slew of economic data including the crucial non-farm payrolls report on Friday as well as speeches from several U.S. central bank officials. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on Friday.

Shares of gene therapy makers and developers slid after a report that Peter Marks, a top official at the U.S. FDA, has been pushed out of the agency.

Taysha Gene Therapies TSHA.O and Solid Biosciences SLDB.O were down more than 6% each, while U.S.-listed shares of CRISPR Therapeutics CRSP.O lost 2.8%.