Wall Street opens deep in the negative territory, energy shares down nearly 3%

Major equity indexes in the U.S. started the day sharply lower on Thursday as the heightened U.S.-China trade war tension continues to weigh on the market sentiment. The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, was last up nearly 18% on the day to confirm the intensifying flight-to-safety. At the moment, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.43% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were losing 1.27% and 1.55%.

Earlier today, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that there was a real risk from China to the U.S. national security and said that he believed more U.S. companies would cut ties with Huawei.

Among the 11-major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is losing 3.3% on the day amid a 5% drop witnessed in the price of the barrel of West Texas Intermediate. The Industrials Index and the Technology Index are both down around 2%. The defensive Utilities Index is the only sector in the positive territory in the early trade.