The New York Stock Exchange was in the red on Wednesday, as rising bond yields weighed on equities amid concerns about inflation and interest rates.

In late morning trading, the Dow Jones dropped nearly 1% to 38,484.9 points.484.9 points, while the Nasdaq Composite limited its decline, shedding around 0.3% to 16,967.5 points.

As has often been the case over the past two years, equity markets once again bore the brunt of rising long-term interest rates, which were back not far from their recent highs.

On the bond market, the yield on 10-year Treasuries is back above the 4.60% mark, and is now approaching its annual peak of 4.70%.

Against this backdrop, higher-than-expected inflation figures in Germany have only served to reinforce risk aversion.

In view of these figures, investors should be paying close attention on Friday to the evolution of PCE inflation, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation.

These data should enable them to fine-tune their feelings about the pace of monetary easing.

This new source of tension adds to the concerns already expressed about the stretched valuation levels of US equities, as the S&P 500 has just racked up 23 out of 30 weeks of gains.

The continued good performance of the "Magnificent Seven" - whose capitalizations are nevertheless considered high - enabled the technology sector to limit its decline.

Apple is up over 1%, as BofA analysts are optimistic about the company's prospects, which they believe could benefit from the launch of AI-enabled "intelliphones".

General risk aversion is benefiting the dollar, with the euro falling below 1.0820, but not gold, which is down 0.7% below $2,340, penalized by rising interest rates.

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