BNP Paribas shares hit as it denies dollar market problem

A rattled BNP Paribas was today forced to deny it had been shut out of wholesale dollar markets as shares in the French banking giant took another pasting.

Investors have turned on French banks this week amid worries over their heavy exposure to struggling Greece, which is teetering on the brink of the abyss despite two bailouts. Concerns over a lack of capital among French banks drove shares in BNP, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole to double-digit falls on Monday.

BNP Paribas angrily denied a Wall Street Journal claim - quoting an anonymous BNP executive - that the bank "has a liquidity problem in dollars".

The bank is "fully able to obtain dollar funding in the normal course of business", it added.

It has a 3.5 billion (£3 billion) exposure to Greek sovereign debt but said this week it has "very little exposure" to the Greek banking sector. Investors were unconvinced as shares fell another 8%.

The focus also fell on struggling Italy today after the country's cost of borrowing for five years hit its highest level since the introduction of the euro a decade ago.