Wall Street stock markets were knocked off four-month highs on Tuesday after a rise in core inflation and record high oil prices threatened to trim corporate profits and a leading banking analyst said the credit crisis could extend well beyond 2009.

The latest inflation figures gave a mixed picture of the price pressures on US businesses. Prices paid to producers in April, excluding food and fuel, rose twice as fast as forecast but a surprise decline in gasoline prices restrained overall increases to 0.2 per cent.