The Dow Jones index dropped 0.68% to 33,301.87 points, the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.47% to 11,854.35 points and the broader S&P 500 index gave up 0.38% to 4,055.99 points.

The US regional bank First Republic continued its descent into hell (-29.75%), raising concerns about a tightening of credit conditions in the United States.

"The bullish wave after Microsoft's strong results," released after Tuesday's close, "helped raise the main indexes in the morning (...) but concerns about banks persisted and revived risk aversion," Schwab analysts said.

Initially reassured by the positive announcements of Microsoft and Alphabet, investors lost enthusiasm in the second half of the session with the continuation of the collapse of First Republic.

The listing of this Californian bank has been repeatedly suspended on the Nasdaq. Its stock closed down 29.75%, to a low of $ 5.69, after having already halved the day before, on the news that it lost 100 billion deposits in the first quarter.

"First Republic is fighting for its survival and trying to get help from the big banks, but its future is bleak," said Edward Moya analyst for Oanda. All the more, according to him, that "the government does not seem to want to intervene".

Hugh Johnson of Hugh Johnson Economics said: "It is probably premature to think that the entire banking sector has problems as big as First Republic's, because overall deposit and lending conditions have stabilized."

But the economist believes that "the combination of higher interest rates and a certain deterioration in lending conditions implies that we could suffer a hard landing of the economy," he told AFP.

Microsoft saved the day on the Nasdaq, soaring 7.24% to $ 295, after publishing the day before quarterly results significantly above expectations, boosted by its remote computing business (cloud).

In addition, Microsoft's stock did not seem to suffer much from the rebuff inflicted by the British competition authorities, who announced Wednesday to block its acquisition of the giant of online video games Activision.

"We remain fully committed to this acquisition and will appeal," Microsoft said in a statement sent to AFP about the $69 billion deal.

The title of Activision Blizzard, which publishes the successes "Call of Duty", "World of Warcraft" and "Candy Crush", has plunged by more than 11%.

Alphabet, which also announced Tuesday after the close, quarterly results exceeding expectations, remained stable (-0.15%).

Meta soared (+9.84%) in electronic trading after the close on Wednesday, after finishing just in the green (+0.89%). After the close, Facebook's parent company reported a quarterly profit down (-24%), but above expectations.

The Dow Jones was supported for a while thanks to Boeing (+0.42%). The aircraft manufacturer announced Wednesday a worse than expected loss in the first quarter, but it confirmed its forecasts for the full year.

On the other hand, the index of flagship stocks was weighed down by the health insurer UnitedHealth (-1.82%), but also by the DIY chain Home Depot (-2.79%) as well as the financial services of Goldman Sachs (-0.86%) and Visa (-0.63%).

The first performance of the day on the market went to the Mexican-inspired fast food chain Chipotle, which soared 12.91% to $ 2,009. It has seen its turnover at a comparable number of restaurants increase by 10%, as much as its prices.

© 2023 AFP