US stocks remained on back foot amid continued political uncertainty

Investors remained cautious amid persistent uncertainty over Trump's policies, with all three major US equity indices opening in negative territory on Thursday. 

The latest actions from Trump's administration, including the decision to put Iran "on notice" over potential new sanctions after the country performed a ballistic missile test, and Trump's harsh exchange with Australia and Mexico (important allies of the US) aggravated investors worries over the Trump administration's policy priorities and weighed on investors' sentiment. 

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial average was down around 25-points to 19,867, while the broader S&P 500 Index lost 4-points to 2,275. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded at 5,636 with a loss of 6-points. 

On economic data front, the weekly jobless claims dropped more than expected to 246K. This coupled with Wednesday's stellar ADP report has now set the stage for a solid headline NFP print for the first month of 2017. The official jobs report is scheduled for release during early NA session on Friday.

In currency markets, the greenback remained under intense selling pressure on Thursday after the Fed faded market expectations of steeper rate-tightening cycle for 2017, with the key US Dollar Index sinking to 11-week lows near 99.00 round figure mark.