The Bush administration insisted Congress must move quickly to approve what one politician called the "mother of all bailouts" - a US$700bn (€483.5bn) proposal to buy a mountain of bad mortgage debt in a bid to free up the nation's credit markets.

The axed chief executives of America’s mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be barred from severance payments of up to £12m (€15.1m).

What are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

Stocks tumbled today after fresh worries about the stability of Lehman Brothers Holdings touched off renewed jitters about the overall financial sector.

THE takeover of the two biggest mortgage providers in the US, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will help ease the credit crunch crisis.

The US federal takeover of troubled US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have been prevented if Congress had acted on its recommendations, the White House said today.

Two major Chinese banks that own £4bn (€4.9bn) in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities welcomed Washington’s bailout of the troubled mortgage lenders but declined to say today whether they expect to lose money.

US president George Bush said the historic federal government takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was needed to keep them from failing, a risk he called “unacceptable” for an economy battered by housing and credit crises.

President George W Bush tonight said that the historic federal government takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is needed to keep them from failing, a risk he called “unacceptable” for an economy battered by housing and credit crises.

US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to be taken over by the government as early as this weekend, it emerged today.

Wall Street capped a volatile week with sharp gains today as oil prices tumbled and after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said inflation pressures are likely to moderate. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 200 points.

The embattled banking sector fought back from hefty falls on the London market today as the US Federal Reserve sought to offer reassurance over America’s troubled financial sector.

Wall Street ended a whipsaw day mostly lower today, as fears of escalating instability in the financial sector kept investors on edge despite a steep retreat in oil.

The Federal Reserve and the US Treasury announced steps tonight to shore up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose shares have plunged as losses from their mortgage holdings threatened their financial survival.

Stocks wobbled to a mixed close today as a government report showed an improved supply outlook for oil, and the first day of earnings season forced investors to shift their focus to company news.