US stocks open sharply lower on renewed Fed rate-hike talks

On the last trading day of the week, major US equity indices were hit hard and opened sharply lower as comments from FOMC member Eric Rosengren revived expectations of an eventual Fed rate-hike action in September, with the CME group's FedWatch tool now pointing to a 33% probability of September hike as against yesterday's 18%. 

At the start of trade stocks were being dumped, with Dow Jones Industrial Average falling over 150 points to 18,320 and the S&P 500 index was off 22 points to 2,160. Meanwhile, tech heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 43 points to 5,215.

Global markets were unsettled after North Korea confirmed news of a nuclear test on Friday, which trigger a broad based risk-off sentiment and is weighing on riskier assets - like equities and commodities. Crude oil prices retraced on Friday and exerted selling pressure in energy stocks. 

In other markets, Asian stocks ended lower and the European equity markets built on to Thursday's losses on disappointment from ECB monetary policy decision. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index, which measures greenback performance against its key counterparts, maintained its strong bid tone across the board.