US stocks slump, Dow Jones drops 500 points

US stock indices fell sharply in early trading on Monday, due to growing odds of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

The Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed Fed officials are preparing to move quicker in raising interest rate than expected.

Bear in mind that the Fed's interest rate hike means increased borrowing costs for companies, which push their shares down.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said that Fed could raise interest rates as soon as March, which is sooner than expected.

The 10-year US Treasury bond yield rose to 1.8%, which weighs down on stock markets.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 1.4% or 520 points to 35,712 as of 15:27 GMT, and S&P 500 fell 1.7% or 81 points to 4,595, while Nasdaq fell 2.2% or 336 points to 14,599.