The Dow Jones dropped 0.85%, the Nasdaq index lost 0.97% and the broader S&P index lost 1.12%.

The three flagship indices of the New York market thus ended at their lowest closing level since the beginning of November, more than a month ago.

"Investors can't stomach the aggressive rhetoric from central bankers this week amid a clear deceleration in the economy," Edward Moya of Oanda said in a note.

The American central bank (Fed), like the European Central Bank (ECB) or the Bank of England repeated this week that their fight against inflation was not over and that they would have to go up even further rates, to keep them high for longer than expected.

A series of poor US macroeconomic indicators also confirmed that the US economy was showing signs of fatigue.

On Friday, the PMI activity indices in services and in the manufacturing sector both came out well below economists' forecasts, each significantly below 50, which reflects a contraction in the economy.

"These data contribute to investors' fears that central banks are going too far in their monetary tightening," said Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones.

They "fuel the view that the pace of growth will slow significantly in 2023."

If they are worried about the Fed's speech, operators nevertheless expect the institution to ease its foot frankly over 2023, as the American economy runs out of steam.

The central scenario is that of a key rate raised by only half a percentage point by June, ie less than what was expected a week ago.

Short-term bond rates thus fell on Friday.

The yield on 2-year US government bonds, considered representative of monetary policy, stood at 4.17%, against 4.23% on Thursday.

At the rating, Meta (+2.82% to 119.43 dollars) benefited from an increase in recommendation from JPMorgan analysts, encouraged by what they see as an improvement in the group's financial discipline.

General Motors backtracked (-3.91% to 36.15 dollars).

The American Highway Safety Agency (NHTSA) has announced the opening of an investigation into the vehicles of its subsidiary Cruise, which specializes in autonomous driving, after several accidents linked to sudden braking or an impromptu stop.

The software publisher Adobe jumped (+2.99% to 338.54 dollars) after the publication of a quarterly net profit above expectations, with growth driven by its remote computing services (cloud).

The San Jose (California) firm also reported better than expected forecasts for the current quarter.

The Chinese group Lanvin Group, which notably controls the fashion houses Lanvin and Sergio Rossi, continued its chaotic course, the day after its listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

After plunging 22.93% on Thursday, the first day after its merger with listed company Primavera Acquisition Corporation, Lanvin Group took off 31.06% to $10.00.

The operation allowed the company to raise more than $150 million in new money.

The Novavax laboratory continued its tumble (-2.56% to 11.03 dollars), weighed down by the revision of its agreement with the British authorities on the purchase of anti-Covid vaccines.

The planned volumes have been halved in the new version of the agreement.

In addition, this biotech plans to issue new shares and bonds convertible into shares for a total amount of up to $250 million in total, which will dilute the shares of existing shareholders.

In two sessions, the Novavax title has melted by more than 35%.

© 2022 AFP