US stock slide during early trade, weighed down by Trump comments

Major US equity indices witnessed a weaker opening on Wednesday and eroded part of previous session's healthy gains.

The US political developments kept investors on edge after the US President Donald Trump said that he was willing to risk a government shutdown to ensure funding for building a wall along the US-Mexican border and also warned of the possible termination of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

During the opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down around 60-points to 21,840, while the broader S&P 500 Index lost nearly 6-points to 2,446. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped over 15-points to 5,281.

The key focus, however, would remain on the much awaited Jackson Hole Symposium, which starts on Thursday and would run through Saturday. The Fed Chair Janet Yellen would be among the tops speakers on Friday, with investors hoping to get some fresh clues over the central bank's near-term monetary policy path.