US stocks knocked down on escalating N. Korean tensions

Major US equity indices opened sharply lower on Tuesday and were being weighed down by escalating geopolitical tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

Global risk appetite took a sharp knock on Tuesday as North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch over Japanese territory reignited geopolitical tensions. The US President Donald Trump responded by saying that "all options are on the table", which continue driving investors towards assets perceived as safer rather than equities. 

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A sharp upsurge in the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), and tumbling US Treasury bond yields further reinforced the prevalent risk-off environment and diminishing appetite for riskier assets, like equities. 

During the opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down around 60-points to 21,746, while the broader S&P 500 Index lost 8-points to 2,435. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped nearly 25-points to 6,258.