US stocks fall sharply on renewed trade-war fears

Major US equity indices opened sharply lower on Thursday amid renewed concerns over the US President Donald Trump's protectionist stance. 

Trump's proposed trade duties on China imports stoked fresh fears about a full-blown trade war between the world's two largest economies and is expected to negatively impact economic growth.

Also collaborating to the downbeat sentiment was the ongoing weakness in technology stocks, led by Facebook's data privacy issue. Investors also digested the latest Fed monetary policy update, wherein the central bank delivered a 25 basis points hike but failed to offer a clear signal over its policy path going forward.

During the opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 250-points to 24,432 and the broader S&P 500 Index slipped around 25-points to 2,687. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped nearly 70-points and retreated farther below the 7,300 mark.