The New York Stock Exchange plunged into the red on Friday, as disappointing results from several major banks added to concerns over the recent reawakening of inflation.

In late morning trading, the Dow Jones index lost 0.9% to 38,099.5 points, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.3% to 16,225 points.

For the week as a whole, the Dow is currently down more than 2%, while the Nasdaq is only down a symbolic 0.1%.

The week was dominated by concerns about persistent inflation in the United States, which could well complicate the Fed's task of initiating a cycle of monetary easing.

The University of Michigan's confidence index showed a clear deterioration in household sentiment in April, as inflation expectations rose.

Their estimate of 12-month price inflation stood at 3.1%, up from 2.9% in March, a level once again above the 2.3% to 3% range that prevailed before the Covid epidemic.

Equally worrying, JPMorgan's Chief Executive Jamie Dimon expressed concern on Friday about the existence of a large number of persistent inflationary pressures, which he said "could well be prolonged".

While the new earnings season had raised many hopes, the mixed performances unveiled by several financial groups dampened investor enthusiasm this morning.

JPMorgan Chase, the leading US bank in terms of assets, fell by more than 5% after reporting EPS well ahead of expectations.

Citigroup lost more than 2%, despite much better-than-expected quarterly results, which came as the New York-based group completed a major restructuring plan last month.

Wells Fargo, for its part, managed to limit the damage (-0.1%) despite announcing a sharper-than-expected drop in quarterly earnings.

Inflation fears are driving bond yields upwards, with the 10-year US Treasury note rising above the symbolic 4.50% mark after hitting a new five-month high of 4.53%.

Gold, the safe-haven par excellence, took full advantage of Wall Street's bout of weakness, setting new all-time highs not far from 2,450 points. Its rise over the last three months is now 17%.

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