Wall Street opens sharply lower amid Trump turmoil

REUTERS - U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Wednesday after reports of a leaked memo by former FBI chief James Comey caused alarm on Capitol Hill, raising questions about whether President Donald Trump tried to interfere with a federal investigation.

Trump asked Comey to end a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn's ties with Russia, according to the reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 172.66 points, or 0.82 percent, at 20,807.09, the S&P 500 was down 18.86 points, or 0.78 percent, at 2,381.81 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 58.66 points, or 0.95 percent, at 6,111.22.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)