NEW YORK, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street plunged again Tuesday on recession concerns with all the major indexes sliding more than 5 percent.

    Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned in a speech Tuesday that the financial crisis could prolong the difficulty the economy is facing.

    Earlier, the Fed announced plans to buy massive amounts of corporate debt to jump-start lending in the markets where many companies turn for short-term loans called commercial paper.

    But investors remained worried about financial companies like Bank of America Corp., which fell after slashing its dividend and reporting that its third-quarter profit fell 68 percent.

Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, Oct. 6, 2008.

    The Dow Jones industrial average fell 508.39, or 5.11 percent, to 9,447.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 60.66, or 5.74 percent, to 996.23, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 108.08, or 5.80 percent, to 1,754.88.