New York (AFP)

Wall Street finished slightly lower Wednesday, penalized by the collapse of US consumption in September and attentive to the progress of negotiations between London and the European Union on Brexit.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell 0.08% to 27,001.98 points.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloration, yielded 0.30%, at 8,124.18 points, and the broad index S & P 500 dropped 0.20% to 2,989.69 points.

"The decline is not very important, but it suggests that last week's euphoria is fading," said Christopher Low of FTN Financial.

The New York square had benefited from announcements by Donald Trump on a partial deal with China last Friday and strong quarterly results Tuesday to progress.

But the indices all lost ground Wednesday with the unexpected drop in retail sales in September after six consecutive months of growth, according to Commerce Department figures released before the opening of the stock market.

In the midst of the Sino-US commercial showdown, the sales index for retailers and restaurants has declined 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

According to Low, lingering doubts over a Brexit compromise have also made investors cautious.

If French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that he wants to "believe that an agreement is being finalized", the leader of the North Irish unionist party DUP denied reports that the main difficulties between London and Belfast had been lifted. .

"I do not believe that an agreement can be approved by the British Parliament without the support of Northern Ireland," notes Low.

Companies listed on Wall Street also continued publishing their quarterly results on Wednesday.

Bank of America has announced that it has done better than expected in the third quarter despite a plunge in profit. Its title has risen by 1.48%.

United Airlines, which released its results after the close on Tuesday and raised its main annual financial target, saw its share rise 2.07% on Wednesday.

In the bond market, the 10-year rate on US debt was down to 1.745% around 20.20 GMT, against 1.771% the day before closing.

© 2019 AFP