US stocks extend selloff on Monday

Major US equity indices build on Friday's steep losses and opened sharply lower at the start of a new trading week. 

Equity selloff is turning out to be a global phenomenon over the past few trading sessions, with Japanese stocks suffering their biggest one-day drop since November 2016 and European equities also trading deep in the red. 

Surging bond yields amid rising expectations that the Fed could opt for a more aggressive monetary policy tightening cycle, especially after Friday's stronger-than-expected US monthly jobs report, was seen as one of the key factors driving flows away from riskier assets - like equities. 

Despite last week’s slump of around 4%, both the S&P 500 and Dow held on to their year to date gains of more than 3%. Investors also seemed skittish about overstretched valuations, with some analysts now suggesting that this could be the end of the bull market.

During the opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 250-points and drifted closer to the key 25K milestone. Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 Index fell over 22-points to 2,740 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped around 40-points to the 7,200 round figure mark.