New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange ended at half mast on Tuesday, with new lockdowns in Europe and rising coronavirus cases dampening hopes of a rapid global recovery.

According to final results, the Dow Jones lost 0.94% to 32,423.15 points.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, dropped 1.12% to 13,227.70 points.

The S&P 500 fell 0.76% to 3,910.52 points.

Exactly one year ago, the stock market hit its bottom at the height of the health crisis caused by the coronavirus.

The S&P 500 had lost 35% since its peak a month earlier.

On Tuesday, the virus was recalled to the memory of the New York place with the announcement by Germany of a new prolonged confinement because of an increased spread of the disease.

"One has the impression that concerns related to the virus, which had ebbed in recent weeks, are again suffocating the market and pushing some investors to be more cautious," said JJ Kinahan for TD Ameritrade.

"This week has started with more concern in Europe, where progress in immunization is lagging behind and some countries like Germany are closing their doors," he added.

As the time for quarter-end portfolio rebalances nears, Treasuries have attracted investors, pushing back yields which fell to 1.62% for 10-year T-bills from 1.62%. 69% the day before.

At the same time the dollar has risen sharply.

Investors listened to Jerome Powell, President of the Central Bank (Fed) who, during a congressional hearing, insisted on the need to continue supporting the economy which is "far from fully recovered" from the crisis. recession caused by the pandemic.

And he once again downplayed the risks of uncontrolled inflation, insisting that the Federal Reserve had the tools to deal with it.

At the same time, Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, also auditioned, confirmed that the Biden administration intended to increase corporate taxes to meet the financing needs of a gigantic stimulus package.

During the presidential campaign, Joe Biden proposed to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and increase the taxes of individuals earning more than $ 400,000 a year.

On the stock side, Microsoft climbed 0.67% as the computer giant is in preliminary discussions, according to the press, to buy the messaging platform Discord, for more than 10 billion dollars.

The stocks which had recently benefited from the hopes of the recovery lost ground like the cruise line Carnival (-7.82%);

airlines American Airlines and United Airlines dropped almost 7%.

Machine tool and construction giant Caterpillar dropped 3.44%.

© 2021 AFP