If the Dow Jones index remained positive, grabbing 0.24% to 33,482.72 points, the Nasdaq, dominated by technology, dropped 1.07% to 11,996.86 points and the broader S&P 500 index gave up 0.25% to 4,090.38 points.

"The market has concluded in a mixed way, investors are focused on recession and bond yields are falling," said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased, materializing these recession fears. Ten-year years fell to 3.29% from 3.33% the day before and two-year ones fell to 3.77% from 3.82% around 20:00 GMT.

"The news on the macro-economic side has weakened, including job creation in the private sector" of the ADP survey, continued the analyst.

Hiring in the private sector came out for March at 145,000 against 205,000 expected and after 261,000 in February. This figure does not bode well for the official employment report that is expected on Friday and attests to the cooling of the labor market.

For Peter Cardillo, "a good part of the possibility of a recession is already factored into stock prices but it is becoming more likely".

"That the S&P 500", the most representative index of the US market, "returns to the 3,700-3,750 point level, it is possible, but that it downgrades to its lowest level of last year, I do not believe it," he tempered.

In addition to the ADP survey, the ISM barometer of service activity in the United States also disappointed.

The index slowed to 51.2% in March from 55.1% the month before and 54.3% forecast by analysts.

Activity in services, the leading sector of the US economy, remains slightly expanding while that of the manufacturing sector, published Monday, is already in recession at 46.3%.

Finally, the last indicator of the day, the US trade deficit widened for the wrong reasons, with both a decrease in exports and a decline in imports.

"The bottom line is that this decline in both exports and imports reflects a slowdown in global trade," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

In terms of values, Johnson and Johnson benefited (+4.52%) from its decision to settle once and for all the lawsuits it has been subject to for years concerning its talc.

The pharmaceutical giant has offered compensation of almost $ 9 billion over several years, without admitting its guilt while its talc is accused of causing ovarian cancer.

The express carrier FedEx was sought after (+1.50%) after announcing a restructuring of its delivery methods and an increase in its dividend.

Walmart, the number one discount retailer, (+1.66%), reassured investors at an analyst conference, confirming its sales and growth targets.

On the downside, the big names in tech, which led the rise in the market at the end of the first quarter, were the subject of profit-taking such as Nvidia (-2.08%) and AMD (-3.45%) in semiconductors but also Amazon (-2.74%), Apple (-1.13%) or Microsoft (-0.99%).

Alphabet (Google) fared better (-0.16%), especially after claiming that its microprocessor dedicated to artificial intelligence was more powerful than its competitor designed by Nvidia.

The regional bank Western Alliance, which plunged 19%, has recovered a little (-12.38% at the close) after giving details Wednesday, in a document filed with the SEC, on its financial balance sheet and the state of its deposits.

© 2023 AFP