The Dow Jones fell 0.24%, the Nasdaq index fell 0.89% and the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.41%.

Despite an opening in the green, the New York market quickly turned negative after the publication of a series of US macroeconomic figures.

Job vacancies jumped unexpectedly in September (+437,000), after recording a sharp contraction in August, driven by the service sector, according to the Ministry of Labor.

This acceleration "signals that the demand for labor is still very high" and that "tensions on the job market are not easing despite the ongoing monetary tightening", analyzed Rubeela Farooqi, of High Frequency Economics, in a note. .

Elsewhere, construction spending rose 0.2% month on month in September, as economists expected a decline, and the ISM manufacturing activity index came out at 50.2%, the lowest since May. 2020 but better than the 50.0% anticipated.

These data have fueled fears that the Fed, which will communicate on Wednesday and is expected to raise its key rate by 0.75 percentage points, stay on its line of forced monetary tightening when investors had begun to hope the start of a deceleration.

“There is concern that the Fed will not give us anything” which allows us to see a change of gear, or even the end of the cycle of rate hikes, explained Quincy Krosby, of LPL Financial.

Traders now give a more than 50% chance of another 0.75 percentage point hike in December, which would be the fifth in a row.

Central bankers "want to see (the labor market) go in the opposite direction" from that which it was still taking in September, according to the indicator published on Tuesday, insisted Quincy Krosby.

The only element likely to appease the Fed, the American manufacturing industry saw commodity prices fall in October, a first since May 2020.

"Although it's always satisfying to see inflation calm down, we would also like to see the labor market slow down," tempered Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.

On the bond market, the rate of 3-month US government bonds, which reflects expectations in terms of short-term monetary policy, rose on Tuesday to its highest level in 15 years, at 4.11%.

It is now above the 10-year rate, a rare phenomenon that has preceded the last eight recessions since the 1960s.

The strengthening of bond yields affected technology stocks, which are sensitive to credit conditions because they often have significant financing needs to fuel their growth.

Apple (-1.75%), Microsoft (1.71%), Amazon (-5.52%) and Alphabet (-4.27%), which weigh almost 35% of the Nasdaq index between them, have all were punished.

Elsewhere on the stock exchange, Chinese companies listed in New York have taken advantage of rumors of a possible exit, in China, from the zero-Covid policy, which has weighed down the country's activity, without completely curbing the hearths of infection.

The Chinese internet giants Alibaba (+3.59%) and JD.com (+3.08%) have thus put their noses out the window.

In the table of values, the Pfizer laboratory was sought (+ 3.14% to 48.01 dollars) after raising its forecast for sales of anti-Covid vaccines for 2022, to 34 billion dollars against 32 announced so far.

Uber soared (+11.97% to 29.75 dollars) after the publication of a turnover higher than expectations.

Investors dismissed the heavy loss recorded by the vehicle reservation platform with driver (VTC), attributed to exceptional items.

It dragged in its wake its competitor Lyft, which climbed 3.48% to 15.15 dollars.

The specialist in cardiac stimulation devices Abiomed took off (+49.88% to 377.82 dollars) after the announcement of its takeover by the American group Johnson & Johnson (-0.51%), an operation which values ​​the group of Danvers (Massachusetts) $16.6 billion.

In tune with rivals ExxonMobil and Chevron, which released last week, oilman Phillips 66 (+2.96%) and Marathon Petroleum (+4.91%) rose after reporting better-than-expected results, on background of black gold prices which remain high.

© 2022 AFP