New York (AFP)

Wall Street ended sharply in the red Wednesday, alarming the risks of a sharp slowdown in the US economy, or even a recession.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, lost 1.86% to 26,078.62 points. This is its biggest drop for over a month.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological color, dropped 1.56% to 7.785.25 points.

The broad-based S & P 500 index fell 1.79% to 2,887.61 points, recording the Dow's heaviest loss since the end of August.

Already on the heels of the previous day, the New York market continued to react to data deemed disappointing for the world's largest economy.

On Tuesday, the index of the ISM industry trade association in the manufacturing sector in September showed a sharp decline, falling to its lowest level in 10 years, reflecting uncertainties surrounding global trade.

Job creation in the private sector slowed to 135,000 in September, after 157,000 in August, according to ADP's monthly survey released on Wednesday.

"The weak employment figures highlight the weakness of yesterday's ISM indicator," said Chris Low of FTN Financial.

The Trump administration is due to release Friday unemployment figures and job creations recorded in September.

"Another reason (the decline in indices, Ed) is that the financial players are waiting to see if the Federal Reserve is still ready to continue its policy of easing," says Low.

The US Central Bank is due to hold its next monetary policy meeting at the end of the month. According to a tool on the CME trading platform, more than three quarters of brokers are currently banking on a further cut in key rates on this occasion.

The president of the New York branch of the Fed, John Williams, also acknowledged Wednesday that the trade tensions between Washington and Beijing pose a climate of uncertainty on the US economy, during a speech delivered in San Diego.

According to Williams, "a number of headwinds are causing a slowdown in US growth (...) There are clearly many uncertainties and risks that will have to be addressed."

- GM losing speed -

Investors now have their eyes turned to the Sino-US talks, expected to resume next week in Washington.

The energy and technology sectors were particularly hard hit on Wednesday, with sub-indices representing them in the S & P 500 falling by 2.61% and 1.98%, respectively.

Airlines have also struggled: American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have all dropped more than 4%.

In the bond market, the 10-year US debt rate stood at 1.599% around 20.40 GMT, down from Tuesday's close (1.635%).

Among other values, General Motors fell 3.96%. The auto giant, faced with a strike by its US employees entering its third week, has achieved sales below analysts' expectations in the third quarter.

Its competitors Fiat Chrysler (-1.89%) and Ford (-6.89%) also fell.

Microsoft lost 1.77%. The IT giant has unveiled its new Surface product line in New York, including its "Surface Duo" dual-screen smartphone.

Boeing fell 2.02%. The US Federal Aviation Agency announced Wednesday it ordered an inspection of some Boeing 737 NG, the predecessor of the 737 MAX, after the discovery of "structural cracks" on a specimen in China.

The World Trade Organization has also ruled in favor of the United States in the context of the Boeing / Airbus conflict. After the closure of Wall Street, the Trump administration announced that it would impose from October 18 punitive taxes on goods from the European Union.

Johnson & Johnson (+ 1.55%) was the only member of the Dow Jones to end up in positive territory. The group on Tuesday proposed more than $ 20 million to two counties in Ohio to settle a legal dispute, which would allow it to avoid a federal lawsuit for its responsibility in the opiate crisis.

TDAmeritrade (-3,26%) fell after having announced Tuesday to eliminate the commissions on the main operations carried out online by its customers, in the wake of its competitor Charles Schwab (-3,31%).

© 2019 AFP