Jitters hit top Wall Street banks

The credit crisis has eaten into profits at Morgan Stanley

Shares in two US banking giants have fluctuated sharply as investors continued to worry about the turmoil in global financial markets.

Shares in Goldman Sachs, the largest remaining independent US investment bank, declined 13% in afternoon trade before paring losses to end 5.7% down.

Meanwhile Morgan Stanley shares were down 21%, before ending up 3.7% on reports it was looking at a tie-up.

Analysts fear independent banks may not be able to stand alone.

The recent dramatic changes in the market have led to greater consolidation, including the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America earlier this week.

Independence threatened

Morgan Stanley is believed to be seeking a partner to help it survive the financial storm.

Analysts also said rival Goldman Sachs may not be able to remain independent.

Shares on the leading Dow Jones Industrial Average were boosted sharply on Thursday by reports of a move by the federal government to create an entity for banks to offload their bad debt.

The leading index added more than 400 points, or 3.8%, by close of trade on Thursday after falling 4% lower in the previous session.

The world's biggest central banks earlier pumped billions of dollars into markets to try to calm investor nerves.

Central banks in the UK, US, Europe, Canada, Switzerland and Japan pumped $180bn into money markets on Thursday.

They hope the co-ordinated move, the fourth such effort since the onset of the credit crisis last year, will keep credit flowing and calm volatile markets.

US President George W Bush expressed concerns about the turmoil in the markets saying his administration was prepared to go beyond the "extraordinary measures" already taken to stabilise them.