US stocks plunged yet again on Wednesday on fresh concerns that the vast government intervention in the financial system may not be enough to stem the credit crisis.

Fears also persisted that it had in any case come too late to prevent severe and long-lasting recession. Retailers Nordstrom, Macy’s and Bed, Bath & Beyond suffered some of the heaviest falls in the fall-out from grim retail sales data, down 12.4 per cent to $16.54, 17.5 per cent to $8.66 and 11 per cent to $23.89 respectively.