CATCo Share News (CAT)

* ADP report shows private employers added 235,000 jobs inFeb

* Dollar Tree slumps after same-store sales miss estimates

* Indexes down: Dow 0.94 pct, S&P 0.69 pct, Nasdaq 0.59 pct(Updates to open)

By Sruthi Shankar

March 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday asinvestors fretted that the exit of staunch free trade supporterGary Cohn could encourage President Donald Trump to go aheadwith his threat to impose hefty tariffs and risk a global tradewar.

The losses were broad-based, but shares of manufacturingtitans Boeing and Caterpillar were hit hard,slipping more than 1 percent on worries about higher input costsand trade barriers outside the United States.

General Electric dipped 1.3 percent after DeutscheBank analysts warned of the potential impact from Trump'splanned tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Adding to investor worries, Trump showed no sign of backingdown in his first tweet on Wednesday, while China raised itsconcerns at the World Trade Organization where 17 other WTOmembers also voiced misgivings.

"It's more of the same jitters we had seen recently, withinvestors in this case fearing that a lack of confidence in thetariffs by Trump's own people," said Andre Bakhos, managingdirector at New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

"Investors are taking risk off the table to see how muchmore damage in the administration this will cause."

Cohn, the architect of the tax overhaul enacted in December,was seen as a stabilizing force within the Trump administration.His departure is seen strengthening the hands of thoseadvocating a protectionist agenda.

Also driving losses were a set of weak results and forecastsfrom Dollar Tree and Ross Stores.

Discount store operator Dollar Tree slumped 14 percent afterreporting disappointing holiday quarter results, while off-priceretailer Ross Stores fell 7.4 percent after its full-year profitforecast came in largely below expectations.

Netflix's 1.2 percent drop after a "hold" ratingfrom Stifel dragged the S&P consumer discretionary indexdown 0.84 percent.

At 9:32 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average wasdown 233.36 points, or 0.94 percent, at 24,650.76. The S&P 500fell 0.69 percent to 2,709.19 and the Nasdaq Compositedeclined 0.59 percent to 7,328.45.

The ADP's National Employment Report showed that privateemployers added 235,000 jobs in February, compared with Reutersestimate of 195,000.

A more comprehensive report that includes hiring in bothpublic and private sectors is due on Friday.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 2,005to 457. On the Nasdaq, 1,765 issues fell and 502 advanced.(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by SrirajKalluvila)