The Dow Jones index gleaned 0.16%, the Nasdaq dropped 0.97% and the broader S&P 500 index 0.39% around 4:15 p.m. GMT.

On Friday, the Dow Jones gained 0.08% to 33,891 points, the Nasdaq gained 0.95% to 12,082.75 points, and the S&P 500 gained 0.25% to 4,051.75 points.

The week had been particularly positive for technology, with the Nasdaq green for the fourth week in a row, gaining 4.3%, while the Dow Jones rose 1.8% and the S&P 500 2. 5%.

“There is no doubt that the stock market is off to a good start in 2023 but it seems to be showing a bit of nervousness this morning,” commented Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

Several factors explain this caution on the part of investors, as the month of January, which ends on Tuesday, should prove to be one of the best vintages at the start of the year for equities.

To date, the Nasdaq has jumped 11% over the month.

"The market seems to have taken a little too much advance", compared to historical statistics at this stage of publication of the results of companies, underlined the analyst of Briefing.

In addition, there was fear that at Jerome Powell's press conference on Wednesday, the Fed chief would try "to dampen the enthusiasm of the market", which continues to believe that a rate cut can come as soon as the end of the year.

The Central Bank is expected to reduce the scale of its rate hike to 25 basis points on Wednesday from 50 points the previous time, according to analysts' projections.

Added to investors' doubts, the "risk events" for the markets also expected this week such as the Thursday meetings of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) from which new rounds of screw.

There will also be a host of indicators to watch, including job creation in the United States for January scheduled for Friday, but also, before that, the quarterly employment cost index, consumer morale and than the ISM activity indices in manufacturing industry and services.

A host of corporate results will also punctuate the week with Spotify, General Motors, McDonald's, UPS and Pfizer on Tuesday.

Tech mega-caps like Meta are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday after the close for Apple, Amazon and Alphabet.

Of the eleven S&P sectors, five were moving in the red around 4:00 p.m. GMT, weighed down by the energy sector (-1.39%) and those of tech (-0.88% for information technology and -0 66% for communication services).

The rest barely kept their heads above water.

Defensive stocks, considered less sensitive to the economy because they sell necessary goods, did well. This was the case for Colgate-Palmolive (+2.65% to 73.49 dollars), Procter and Gamble ( +0.81%) or even Coca-Cola (+0.74%).

Electric vehicle maker Lucid lost 3.26% after rising sharply last week on rumors that a Saudi Arabian investment fund was planning to take a stake in the company.

Tesla was down a little (-0.58%) after a surge last week following announcements of record fourth-quarter profits.

Securities of the Chinese giant Alibaba listed on Wall Street fell 5.19% to 112.24 dollars at 4:15 p.m. GMT.

According to press reports, the group denied speculation that it intended to move its headquarters to Singapore while based in Hangzhou in China's Zhejiang province.

On the bond market, rates on 10-year Treasury bills stretched slightly to 3.52% against 3.50% on Friday.

© 2023 AFP