Wall Street finished lower on Wednesday after an early rally petered out, in a sign of lingering unease after recent equity market weakness.

"This is what happens when you have a big risk-off type of event," Steve Sosnick, of Interactive Brokers, said of Monday's equity market plunge.

"It's normal to see the market display uncertainty," said Sosnick, who pointed to a poorly received US Treasury bond auction as further evidence of investor angst.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.6 percent at 38,763.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.8 percent to 5,199, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.1 percent to 16,195.

Major indices sank more than 2.5 percent on Monday amid worries over a potential US recession and the unwinding of the so-called "carry trade" that took advantage of the weak yen prior to last week's interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan.

But many analysts expect more effects from the unwinding, extending a period of volatility.

Among individual companies, Disney fell 4.5 percent despite reporting better than expected earnings as investors digested commentary that a weakening of demand in the parks business "could impact the next few quarters."

Airbnb slumped 13.4 percent after reporting lower than expected profits and cautioning of "some signs of slowing demand from US guests."

TripAdvisor also fell sharply after earnings, tumbling 16.7 percent. (AFP)