US stocks hold weaker during early trade

Major US equity indices witnessed a weaker opening on Friday as investors remained concerned over a potential breakdown of trade talks between the US and China.

A Chinese official on Friday denied reports saying that an offer has been made to purchase American goods and cut its surplus with the US by $200 billion. Meanwhile, lawmakers from both sides of Congress looked set to advance a bill that would give the US greater powers to block deals between American and Chinese companies that could pose risk to national security.

Adding to this, elevated US Treasury bond yields, with the 10-year note holding above 3% psychologically important mark, further dampened investors' sentiment as higher yields make it expensive to invest in equities. 

Moreover, some renewed selling pressure in technology shares weighed on the broader markets and contributed to the lacklustre opening on the last trading day of the week. 

During the opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by around 10-points, while the broader S&P 500 Index lost nearly 5-points to 2,715. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped over 20-points and fell to 7,358.