The Dow Jones yielded 0.03%, the Nasdaq dropped 0.91% and the S&P 500 lost 0.26% in a nervous market.

On Tuesday, pending the Fed's very likely decision to raise interest rates by half a percentage point, the indices had concluded a modest rise.

The Dow Jones gained 0.20% to 33,128.79 points, the Nasdaq gained 0.22% to 12,563.76 points and the S&P 500 0.48% to 4,175.48 points.

At 6:00 p.m. GMT, the Fed will announce its decision on key rates, probably the toughest tightening in more than 20 years, but also its plan to reduce its balance sheet by 95 billion dollars per month.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who will speak at a press conference at 6:30 p.m. GMT, "should also approve the likelihood of another aggressive rate hike at the June Monetary Committee meeting", warned Patrick O' Briefing Hare.

“The big unknown at this point is whether the Fed boss will be supportive of a 75 basis point rate hike as early as June, which is almost fully priced in by the fed funds futures market already,” added the analyst.

Bond yields, which have climbed lately on the prospect of more severe monetary tightening, remained tight.

Rates on 10-year Treasury bonds touched again, for the second time this week, the 3% threshold, a first in four years.

The VIX index, which measures market volatility, remained around 30 points, a high level.

“Markets are volatile on this cauldron of concerns that includes inflation, how aggressive the Fed needs to be to tame it, and how all of that is going to affect growth and the supply chain,” Art Hogan commented. of National Security.

Ahead of the official US employment figures for April to be released on Friday, the ADP survey of the private sector disappointed: private sector companies created 247,000 jobs, a figure well below analysts' expectations (390,000).

“The labor market recovery showed signs of slowing in April as the economy approached full employment,” commented Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.

The unemployment rate at 3.6% in March should remain stable in April, according to analysts at Briefing.com.

The Commerce Department also announced a record trade deficit in March due to sustained domestic demand, which caused a jump in imports.

The corporate earnings season has continued its course and “the good news is that overall it is not the results that are driving the correction” of the stock market, welcomed Art Hogan.

The Airbnb accommodation rental platform saw its title jump 8% to 156 dollars.

It raised its sales forecast for the second quarter and managed to sharply reduce its loss in the first.

Starbucks also climbed 7% to $79.

The American coffee giant has managed to offset the sharp slowdown in its activity in China in the first quarter with a boost in the United States, where it wants to increase the development of "drive-in" points of sale, where customers are served in their vehicle.

The title of the manufacturer of the anti-Covid vaccine, Moderna, advanced 0.84% ​​to 147 dollars.

The laboratory announced a quarterly profit higher than expected with sales of 5.93 billion dollars for its anti-Covid vaccine, its only product.

Uber, the car rental company with driver and specialist in meal deliveries, plunged more than 9% to 26.80 dollars despite a doubling of its turnover in the first quarter, helped by an increase in its prices.

Uber is still losing money but is betting on continued growth in the second quarter.

The title was also driven by the fall in the action of its rival Lyft, which plunged 33% to 20 dollars.

The group recorded a larger than expected loss in the 1st quarter and indicated that it had to invest more to boost its fleet of drivers.

© 2022 AFP