Hundreds of US companies are facing sharply higher costs on the short-term debt used to fund their day-to-day operations, in the latest sign that the credit market turmoil is beginning to hit corporate America.

Executives and Wall Street analysts say a recent credit squeeze could force several companies to reduce their exposure to the $200bn (€148bn, £100bn) corporate market for commercial paper, which has traditionally been one of the safest sources of corporate funding.