Wall Street ended a mildly erratic day slightly lower today after anxiety about widening credit problems offset investor optimism about a $2bn capital infusion into troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp.

Wall Street ended a mildly erratic day slightly lower today after anxiety about widening credit problems offset investor optimism about a $2bn (€1.47bn) capital infusion into troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp.

Wall Street advanced for a second session in a row today as investors placed bets that the Federal Reserve would not indicate that it is leaning toward a US interest rate hike.

US stocks plunged today, driving the Dow Jones industrials down more than 240 points in their second-biggest drop of the year as troubles piled up for subprime lenders, who lend money to people with a low credit rating.