US stocks plunge on rising credit anxiety

Wall Street plunged today after a French bank said it was freezing three funds that invested in US sub prime mortgages because it was unable to properly value their assets. The Dow Jones industrials extended its series of triple-digit swings, this time falling more than 380 points.

The announcement by BNP Paribas raised the spectre of a widening impact of US credit market problems. The idea that anyone – institutions, investors, companies, individuals – can’t get money when they need it unnerved a stock market that has suffered through weeks of volatility triggered by concerns about tight credit and bad sub prime mortgages.