At 3:30 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones index dropped 1.25%, the technology-dominated Nasdaq lost 1.74% and the S&P 500 fell 1.38%.

Over the whole of last week, the Wall Street indices had again fallen sharply: -1.30% for the Dow Jones, which ended at 33,614.80 points on Friday, and -2.78% for the Nasdaq , which ended the week at 13,313.44 points.

The S&P 500 lost 1.27% over the week, ending at 4,328.87 points.

During the night before the opening, the price of a barrel of oil rose to $130 as sanctions on Russian energy are discussed by the United States and the European Union, sparking fears of an embargo West on Russian black gold, which is very necessary for Europe.

These concerns, which led futures contracts on Wall Street indices to lose up to 2% before the opening, oscillated over geopolitical developments with the holding of talks in particular.

A third round of negotiations between a Ukrainian delegation and representatives of Russia began Monday in Belarus, aimed at finding a solution to conclude a ceasefire.

During the day, US President Joe Biden is due to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The latter said that imports of Russian fossil energy were "essential" for the "daily life of citizens" in Europe and that the supply of the continent could not be ensured otherwise at this stage.

The price of Brent oil from the North Sea, which came close to 140 dollars on Sunday evening, was moving around 121 dollars (+ 2.40%) around 3:00 p.m. GMT.

"Crude prices continue to rise, which will exacerbate already scorching inflation and increase uncertainty about how the Fed will respond with monetary policy," commented analysts at Schwab.

The US central bank (Fed) is due to meet next week to decide on an interest rate hike to curb inflation that has been stubborn for months already.

Investors will have their eyes on the publication of the first US inflation index for February, the CPI consumer price index, which will be unveiled on Thursday.

Among stocks, oil companies climbed, such as ExxonMobil (+1.80% to 85.67 dollars), Halliburton (+6.74% to 36.48 dollars) or Schlumberger (+7.68% to 41.92 dollars ).

Occidental Petroleum Corporation gained 3.35% to 58 dollars, while Warren Buffett's group, Berkshire Hathaway, said it had increased its stake.

Since the start of the year, the Dow Jones has lost 7.49%, the Nasdaq, which is dominated by technology, is largely in the correction zone, down 14.90%, while the S&p 500 has fallen by 9.18%. .

Apart from the energy sector, which pranced in the green (+2.28%), most sectors of the S&P 500 were in the red, starting with communication services (-1.84%) and information technologies. information (-1.57%).

These so-called growth sectors particularly fear inflation and the prospect of an increased cost of credit by the Fed.

Amazon and Meta (Facebook) lost more than 3%, Google (Alphabet) more than 2%.

Bank stocks were particularly affected by uncertainties in international payments with Russia.

Bank of America lost 3.87% to 39.39 dollars while Walls Fargo and JP Morgan shed more than 2%.

Home goods chain Bed Bath and Beyond was in a stellar session, climbing 60% to $538 after GameStop boss Ryan Cohen revealed he had a nearly 10% stake in the company.

© 2022 AFP