• The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 76.62 points, or 0.3 percent, to 25,656.98, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.84 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,856.98 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 10.64 points, or 0.13 percent, to 7,878.46.

Wall Street’s major indexes fell on Thursday as trade-sensitive stocks were hit by a fresh round of tariffs in the trade dispute between the United States and China.

Despite ongoing talks, the two countries imposed tariffs on $16 billion worth of each other’s goods.

• Investors said they were keeping a close eye on the meeting of U.S. central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak on Friday. His speech will be watched for clues on monetary policy after minutes from the most recent meeting indicated that the Fed would raise interest rates soon.

3• Asia markets were mixed in early trade on Friday as investors reacted to an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China, developments in Australian politics and economic data from Japan.

• Australian politics will be a key focus in Friday's trading session as senior ministers deserted the besieged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after he narrowly won a leadership vote against the former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton earlier in the week.

According to reports, Turnbull is set to face another leadership challenge that could potentially see a new Australian prime minister.

• In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 percent while the Topix index gained 0.34 percent.

• Government data released before the market open showed Japan's core consumer prices in July rose 0.8 percent from a year ago, but was unchanged from the previous month's gain. That number fell slightly short of market expectations but it remains notably far off from the Bank of Japan's 2 percent inflation target.

• South Korea's Kospi index fell 0.41 percent as some of the major blue chip names declined. Shares of electronics giant Samsung fell 1.1 percent while Posco was down 0.6 percent and Hyundai Motor was off by 0.4 percent.

Reference: Reuters, CNBC