The Dow Jones index fell by 0.97%, the Nasdaq, with a strong technological color, gave up 0.58% and the broader S&P 500 index gave up 0.78% around 14:20 GMT.

The day before, the Dow Jones had fallen 0.80% to 33,434 points, the Nasdaq had fallen by 0.46% to 13,099.75 points and the S&P 500 had crumbled by 0.70% to 4,098.75 points.

The securities of the regional banks were again the target of massive selling, including the Californian institution PacWest which fell by more than half (-52%) to be worth only 3.05 dollars.

The regional bank issued a statement overnight saying it was considering sales of strategic assets.

She said she had not recorded "exceptional movements", after the collapse of First Republic Bank, which had to be bought in disaster last weekend by JPMorgan.

Western Alliance plunged 45.25% and Zions Bancorporation fell 15%.

"We didn't have a quiet period after the takeover of First Republic," said Edward Moya of Oanda. "The target has shifted from one bank to another and the sector is struggling."

"This banking crisis is something we will have to deal with until the end of the year and beyond," he added. "There are going to be more banks under stress."

The big names in the sector were also suffering: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America all lost more than 2% around 14:15 GMT.

The Fed, for its part, focused on Wednesday "to minimize" this banking crisis, commented for his part Chris Low of FHNFinancial. "The banking system is healthy and resilient," the US central bank's Monetary Committee statement said.

"It is good that Jerome Powell has said that the Fed is determined to learn the lessons of the crisis but he and other regulators have not gained credibility by minimizing risks," the economist added.

Still in the banking sector, the Canadian bank TD Bank has announced that it will abandon its merger with the American lender First Horizon for regulatory reasons. First Horizon was down almost 40%.

In addition to this renewed pressure on banks, the attitude of the Federal Reserve (Fed), which retains the option of pausing rates but also raising them if inflation resists and certainly not lowering them this year, has not satisfied the markets.

"The stock market didn't necessarily like what it heard from the Monetary Committee and Chairman Jerome Powell, mainly because it doesn't point in the direction of a future rate cut," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

Elsewhere on the list, Paramount Global fell 22% after announcing a quarterly loss of $ 1.12 billion against a profit of $ 433 million a year earlier, despite a rise in its subscribers to its streaming service. The group has reduced its dividend.

After the close, the giant Apple (-1.22% around 14:00 GMT) will announce its results for its second quarter. Analysts expect revenue to decline by 4.8% and profit by 5.8%. This would be the first decline in sales since 2019.

Semiconductor specialist Qualcomm lost more than 6% after announcing a disappointing outlook for the third quarter.

© 2023 AFP