Wachovia, the fourth largest US bank, plunged to an $8.9bn loss in its second quarter , cut its dividend for the second time in three months and said it would shed more than 6,000 jobs, only shortly after replacing its chief executive.

The loss of $4.11 a share – the largest in the company’s history and the first time in at least twenty years that it has recorded two consecutive quarterly losses – compares with net earnings of $2.34bn or $1.22 a share in the second quarter of 2007.