US stocks extend weekly losses, turn sharply lower during early trade

Major US equity indices extended previous session's sharp declines and traded with modest losses during the opening hour of trade on the last day of the week. 

Investors maintained a cautious approach following Thursday's a terrible terrorist attack in Barcelona and rumours that National Economic Council Chairman Gary Cohn was set to resign that reignited fears over the US President Donald Trump's ability to push through the promised pro-growth economic policies. 

At the time of writing this report, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down around 70-points to 21,680 and remains on track for its largest two-week declines since mid-September 2016. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost almost 20-points to 6,201 and is set to extend its losing streak for the fourth consecutive week. The broader S&P 500 Index built on its biggest daily percentage loss in about three months and over 7-points to 2,423 level.

Also denting investors' sentiment was the latest minutes from the FOMC July meeting that showed growing concerns over recent dismal inflation figures, which remain below the Fed's 2% target rate and cast doubts over any further rate hike action in 2017.