Around 13:50 GMT, the Dow Jones was down 0.80%, the Nasdaq index was down 0.25% and the broader S&P 500 index was down 0.48%.
Wall Street had ended Thursday's session with fanfare, excited by the intervention of a group of major American banks, which will deposit $ 30 billion in the coffers of First Republic, considered the new weak link in the system.
The euphoria was short-lived and the indices quickly showed signs of running out of steam in post-closing electronic trading.
"The question now is whether it will be enough," asked Quincy Krosby, of LPL Financial, about the boost of the big names of the place to First Republic. "Questions remain about the soundness of the financial system."
Rising more than 10% the day before after giving up to 36% in session, First Republic was again desperate and fell 17.19% shortly after the opening.
Other regional and medium-sized retailers were targeted, such as California's PacWest (-10.35%), Western Alliance (-6.30%), headquartered in Phoenix (Arizona) and Texas' Comerica (-9.77%).
The big banks were also in turmoil, like Goldman Sachs (-2.76%) and JPMorgan Chase (-2.76% also), which dragged the Dow Jones down.
The VIX index, which measures market volatility, was up more than 5%.
Friday is 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.
© 2023 AFP