The Dow Jones dropped 0.02%, the Nasdaq index, with a strong technological scent, dropped 1.40%, and the broader S&P 500 index, 0.54%.

Down 9.2% since the end of December, the S&P 500 threatens to record the worst month of January in its history, the current record (-8.6%) dating from 2009.

Investors are struggling to recover from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference on Wednesday.

The tone "was firmer than some expected," said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management.

“So the market is getting used to the idea that the Federal Reserve is not going to be as quick to support the market as it has been in the past,” he added, the priority clearly being on containment. of inflation.

This impression is added to the fact that "the tendency to sell when the market rises remains one of the dominant themes since the beginning of the year", according to analysts at Briefing.com.

The day had however started with a bang, on the impetus of good macroeconomic indicators, primarily by US growth, which reached 6.9% on an annual basis, against 5.6% expected.

For 2021 as a whole, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.7%, its biggest gain since 1984.

But the session followed a scenario that has become classic since the start of the year, turning around at midday before ending in the opposite direction of the opening.

The indices were sealed by companies which had just published their results, in particular Tesla, Intel, McDonald's or Comcast.

The lack of presentation of a new model (Tesla) or slightly reduced margins (Intel or McDonald's) despite sharply rising profits are enough to scare investors.

Another index of operators' nervousness, the VIX index, which measures market volatility, remained at a high level, close to its highest level in a year.

Above expectations, Tesla was nonetheless sanctioned (-11.55% to 829.10 dollars).

Despite the record profit in 2021, some dwelled on comments from CEO Elon Musk, who reported continued supply challenges.

Others regretted that the electric car manufacturer had not announced the arrival of new models for this year.

The industry's flagship dragged the entire sector in its wake, from Rivian (-10.50%) to Lucid (-14.10%), via Nikola (-9.01%), but also the former General Motors.

In general, as has been regularly the case in recent weeks, many technology and growth stocks have again been put to the test.

Roblox (-9.46%), WeWork (-11.48%), Block (formerly Square; -4.83%) or Robinhood (-6.45%) were the hardest hit in this batch.

The rotation of portfolios, announced several weeks ago, which was to revive the market by rebalancing investments with less technology and more traditional stocks, did not have the desired effect.

"It will not be enough to prevent the market from falling," warned Tom Cahill.

Example of these traditional values, McDonald's fell Thursday (-0.44% to 248.74 dollars) after missing the target set by analysts for its quarterly sales and profit.

Intel slipped (-7.04% to 48.05 dollars), although having done significantly better than expected in the fourth quarter, both in terms of turnover and net profit.

Investors, however, held the group's forecasts a little disappointing and were also worried about a deterioration in margins.

The semiconductor giant has made massive investments, with the planned construction of factories in Europe and the United States.

Some of the companies coming out of publications have managed to pull themselves out of the doldrums, like Dow (+5.17% to 60.18 dollars).

The US industrial chemicals and materials giant did better than expected, partly thanks to higher prices.

Netflix jumped (+7.51% to $386.70).

Investment company Pershing Square announced on Wednesday evening that it had acquired 3.1 million shares of the online video platform, or just under 1% of outstanding shares.

Known for his activism, Pershing said he took this stance to profit from the growth of the subscription service, not to demand a change in strategy.

© 2022 AFP