The Dow Jones lost 1.14%, the Nasdaq index gave up 1.57% and the broader S&P 500 index gave up 1.47%.
Since the beginning of the week, Wall Street has been worried that the U.S. central bank is going too far in its monetary tightening and "breaking something", causing major disruptions in the markets and in the economy, according to Art Hogan, of B. Riley Wealth Management.
For several days, the New York market has been watching, fascinated, the irresistible rise in bond yields.
The yield on 10-year US government bonds reached 4.56%, a first in nearly 16 years. As traders give credence to the assumption of high interest rates for a long time, yields on distant maturities skyrocket.
The 30-year yield rose to 4.69%, an altitude it had not visited for more than 11 years.
"There was no major news today, but the market reacts before it hurts," said Kim Forrest of Bokeh Capital Partners.
Illustrating a strong resurgence of tension among investors, the VIX index, which measures the nervousness of Wall Street, jumped nearly 12%, the highest in four months.
For Kim Forrest, the New York Stock Exchange is overreacting, while macroeconomic indicators remain solid, even if they are slowing.
"We are approaching earnings season and I have not seen any indication that companies will miss their targets," said the manager. "Nothing awful seems on the horizon, but the market is selling because it is afraid that it will not be given the numbers it expects."
On the stock exchange, Amazon (-4.03%) suffered from the announcement of legal action brought by the US Competition Authority, the FTC, against the Seattle group (Washington State) for abuse of dominant position on its e-commerce platform.
Prosecutors from some 17 states have joined the lawsuit, which accuses Amazon of taking advantage of their hegemony to impose anti-competitive conditions on merchants who use the platform.
If it was the most targeted, Amazon was not the only giant technology capitalization to suffer the withdrawal of investors, like Apple (-2.34%), Microsoft (-1.70%) or Alphabet (-2.06%).
The three major American automakers are increasingly heavily penalized as the strike launched by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union drags on.
Stellantis (-2.08%), Ford (-1.19%) and General Motors (-2.42%) all finished clearly in the red.
Electric vehicle maker Rivian (+5.35%) was driven by a positive analyst note from Baird, which reported sustained demand for its models, while the market had expressed doubts.
The cosmetics group Coty (-1.78%) paid, for its part, the announcement, Monday, of the issuance of 33 million new shares, in conjunction with its next IPO on the Paris Stock Exchange.
This dual listing (with New York) should allow Coty to diversify its shareholding. The proceeds of the capital increase will be dedicated to the repayment of its debt.
© 2023 AFP