New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange closed in the red on Wednesday, weighed down by the Federal Reserve's (Fed) upward revision of its inflation forecasts and the intention of the majority of Fed members to raise key rates to twice in 2023.

The Dow Jones fell 0.77% to 34,033.67 points, the Nasdaq lost 0.24% to 14,039.68 points and the extended S&P 500 index lost 0.54% to 4,223.70 points.

Close to equilibrium in the first part of the session, Wall Street fell after the Fed's monetary policy meeting.

The latter estimated that inflation would reach 3.4% in the United States in 2021, more than the 2.4% expected in March.

A majority of Fed members further estimated that key rates, currently between 0% and 0.25%, should be raised twice by the end of 2023 to offset the resumption of US growth.

During his press conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell tried to downplay the importance of these opinions, recalling that they should be "taken with a grain of salt", which had the effect of limiting losses. major indices of the New York Stock Exchange.

Mr. Powell also insisted that inflation was transitory and that it should stabilize at 2.1% in 2022 and at 2.2% in 2023.

According to Art Hogan of National Holdings, the position displayed by the American Central Bank "brings the Fed closer to where Wall Street is already in terms of key rates and that is why the negative reaction remains rather moderate".

In the bond market, the 10-year rate on US debt climbed to 1.5720%, against 1.4922% Tuesday night.

Among the values ​​of the day, General Motors (GM) rose 1.56%.

The American automaker announced on Wednesday that it wanted to further accelerate its investments in electric and autonomous vehicles, by 30% by 2025, to bring them to a total of 35 billion dollars.

Southwest was down 0.79%.

The air carrier temporarily grounded all of its planes in the United States on Tuesday due to an IT problem, less than 24 hours after having already had to suspend all of its domestic flights due to another IT problem at a subcontractor.

The US software publisher Oracle fell 5.59% after issuing a quarterly profit outlook below market expectations.

Video game platform Roblox fell 8.03% after reporting a drop in its number of daily active users in May compared to April.

Among the indicators, housing starts in the United States rebounded in May after a sharp drop in April, but less than expected, with the sector still facing supply difficulties, according to data from the Department of Commerce. published on Wednesday.

© 2021 AFP