According to final results, the Dow Jones index fell 0.46% to 32,001.25 points, the Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, dropped 1.73% to 10,342.94 points and the broader S&P 500 index 1, 06% to 3,719.89 points.

The shares ended with a loss, "smaller than at the height of the session, following the fourth rate hike of 75 basis points, and strict comments from the Fed", underlined the Schwab analysts.

Through its President Jerome Powell on Wednesday, the US Central Bank said "there was still a lot of work to do, that the terminal rate could be higher, that we had to be aggressive on rates for longer “, summed up Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital.

"In a nutshell, he blasted the market with a stick," the analyst said.

The Fed raised, as expected, its key rate by 0.75 percentage points on Wednesday, bringing it to a range between 3.75% and 4%, the highest in nearly 15 years.

During his press conference, the head of the Fed mainly acknowledged that the Monetary Committee now considered that the terminal rate or the target for overnight rates, capable of taming inflation, was higher than what was planned for September.

This implies that increases in the cost of money will continue longer to reach this so-called "restrictive" rate threshold.

"As a result, the hopes of a + pivot + (or inflection) of the Fed have been showered", recalled Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.

Boosted by these prospects of a still firm Fed, the dollar rose against the euro (+0.65% around 7:50 p.m. GMT to 0.9757 dollars for one euro).

Bond rates also took an upward slope, although moderating their surge at the end of the session.

The rate on 10-year Treasury bills was 4.12% against 4.19% in the morning and 4.04% the day before.

Among the indicators of the day, weekly unemployment benefits fell from 1,000 to 217,000 last week, showing a still dynamic and tight job market, which is not sought by the Fed because it can stimulate the 'inflation.

On Friday, the US Department of Labor will release official employment figures for October.

Analysts are betting on the creation of 220,000 jobs against 263,000 in September and a slight increase in the unemployment rate to 3.6%.

"These forecasts are not an indication that things are slowing down quickly," doubted Jack Ablin.

In addition, activity in services in the United States has stalled more than expected at 54.4% in October against 56.7% the month before and 55.2% expected, according to the ISM index.

On the side, the group of components Qualcomm lost 7.66%, after quarterly results in line with forecasts, but projections below expectations for the next quarter, given the uncertain economic environment.

Weighting the Nasdaq, Apple plunged 4.24% to 138.88 dollars while Google dropped 4.11%.

The energy sector (+2%) and industrial stocks (+1%) prevented the Dow Jones from falling too much.

The aircraft manufacturer Boeing thus concluded a strong increase (+6.34% to 156.75 dollars).

© 2022 AFP