The Dow Jones contracted by 1.19%, the Nasdaq index lost 0.74% and the broader S&P 500 index fell by 1.10%.

For Art Hogan, of B. Riley Wealth Management, the session was marked by a strong risk aversion, "because we do not know what could happen during the weekend" on the banking front.

First victim of this climate, the American regional bank First Republic, considered the next weak link in the banking crisis, which plunged 33.00%, after rebounding by nearly 10% the day before.

The announcement, Thursday, of the injection of $ 30 billion of deposits by a group of eleven major American banks in the coffers of this Californian institution will have ensured its share price only short-term support.

Within a week, First Republic wiped out 80% of its market capitalization.

If it was the most abused Friday, FRC, its ticker symbol, was accompanied in the turmoil by other regional banks, including another Californian, PacWest (-18.95%), as well as Western Alliance (-15.47%), headquartered in Phoenix (Arizona), or the Texas institution Comerica (-8.44%).

If their slippage has been less spectacular, the giants of the sector have also suffered a sharp decline. Prominent members of the Dow Jones, Goldman Sachs (-3.67%) and JPMorgan Chase (-3.78) helped to lead Wall Street's flagship index.

"The volatility we've seen this week has been remarkable," said Christopher Low of FHN Financial. "And when you have such volatility, it pushes algorithms to sell. So it's not surprising that we see people taking a few chips off the table before the weekend."

To make matters worse, Friday was a so-called "four witches" day, which corresponds to the maturity of several trillion dollars of derivatives based on stock indices or individual stocks.

This deadline often reinforces Wall Street's volatility during the session in question.

In another indicator of traders' anxiety and appetite for assets deemed safe, U.S. Treasury prices have soared, pushing rates lower, with both moving in opposite directions.

The yield on 10-year US government bonds fell to 3.43%, from 3.57% the previous day.

However, against all odds, bitcoin was struggling (+7.34%), although it is theoretically considered a risk asset. It pulled in its wake the values related to the cryptocurrency sector, such as the "mining" specialist Riot Platforms (+14.89%) or the exchange platform Coinbase (+10.62%).

The Nasdaq fared better than the Dow, thanks to some mega-caps, such as Alphabet (+1.38%) and Microsoft (+1.17%), still supported by the announcements of both groups on the integration of artificial intelligence into their products.

Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng jumped (+6.12%), despite the publication of a larger-than-expected quarterly loss and lower-than-expected revenue. The group nevertheless said it was confident in the resumption of its growth.

Its competitor Tesla declined (-2.17%), as did other electric vehicle manufacturers such as Rivian (-3.34%) or Lucid (-1.17%).

FedEx paraded (+7.97%), after raising its full-year forecast, despite a disappointment on its revenue for the third quarter of its staggered fiscal year (June to May). The group expects to have reduced its workforce by 25,000 positions over one year by the end of May.

© 2023 AFP