Credit-market turmoil sent fresh shock waves around the globe today, with funds in America, Australia and France warning over losses or blocking redemptions to halt a fire-sale of assets. Equities tumbled in reaction across Asia and Europe.

Bear Stearns, the Wall Street bank that recently saw two of its hedge funds collapse, halted redemptions in a third – the $850 million (£420 million) Asset-Backed Securities Fund – after investors rushed to make withdrawals.

In Australia, shares in Macquarie Bank fell more than 10 per cent after it warned investors of losses in two bond funds, on the back of the recent strife in the credit markets sparked by the US sub-prime debt crisis.

Separately, shares in American Home Mortgage Investment plummeted 90 per cent yesterday after the US lender said it could no longer fund home loans.

And in France, news emerged that Oddo Asset Management had closed three funds with about €1 billion in assets in total.

The news that Bear Stearns has halted redemptions on a third fund comes after two other funds run by the bank were almost wiped out in June by their investments in sub-prime, losing an estimated $1.5 billion in total.

The latest fund problems signal how concerns over US sub-prime debt have spilled over into other parts of the debt market. Bear Stearns’s third fund had less than 0.5 per cent of its funds invested in securities backed by sub-prime mortgages, the bank said.

Bear Stearns added that it had no plans to close the fund, saying it believed the portfolio was in a position to weather the current crisis.

Shares in Bear Stearns were down $6.03, or 4.7 per cent, at $121.22, at New York’s close last night.

Meanwhile, in Australia, Macquarie gave warning that retail investors in two debt funds face losses of up to 25 per cent as the fallout from the global credit crunch widened

Macquarie said that two of its Fortress funds, which invest in securitised loans, could lose up to a quarter of their value, or more than A$300 million (£126 million).

The bank is the third Australian institution to flag possible losses as investors mark down the value of credit assets. In recent weeks, two Australian hedge funds, Basis Capital and Absolute Capital, have suspended withdrawals.

The Macquarie warning rattled investors in Asia, where the MSCI index of stocks in the region excluding Japan fell more than 4 per cent.

Japan’s Nikkei index dropped 2.2 per cent to its lowest close since mid-March.

The flight from equities was mirrored in Europe, where the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 1.95 per cent in morning trade.

The FTSE 100 index fell more than 2 per cent, as did Germany’s DAX. France’s CAC 40 fell more than 2.5 per cent.

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