NEW YORK (AP) — Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. shares plunged to their lowest level in more than a decade yesterday amid investor concerns that the battered investment bank is running out of options to raise capital.

Investors, anxious about the possibility of a bank failure after the near-collapse of Bear Stearns in March, punished the stock in early afternoon trading. The stock tumbled $6.36, or 45 percent, to $7.79 — the lowest level Lehman's stock has hit since the financial meltdown of 1998 triggered by the collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management.

The nation's fourth-largest securities firm has been seeking to boost liquidity after suffering $8.2 billion in write-downs and credit losses since the financial crisis began last year. Lehman had hoped to find a major investor before announcing third-quarter results September 18, when it is widely expected to take another round of steep losses.

Uncertainty about Lehman's financial position has prompted speculation that the investment bank might announce quarterly results early, a move that could also stem the stock's slide. Prashant Bhatia, an analyst with Citigroup, said Lehman could release details about the third quarter in the next day or so.

"At that point, we expect more clarity around where they are in terms of both earnings for the quarter and any strategic initiatives," Bhatia said. "A pre-announcement will likely be a catalyst to stabilise the stock."

Lehman could report a loss of between $2 billion and $4 billion, according to analysts. That would be on top of a $2.8 billion second-quarter loss, which was the first since Lehman spun off from American Express Co. in 1994.

In addition, Lehman Brothers is also working to quell criticism from major credit rating agencies. On Tuesday, Standard & Poor's put Lehman's debt on CreditWatch Negative because of the steep stock decline, which means the agency may lower the company's ratings within months. Such a move would increase the amount of money Lehman pays to issue debt.

"The CreditWatch listing stems from heightened uncertainty about Lehman's ability to raise additional capital, based on the precipitous decline in its share price in recent days," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Scott Sprinzen.

The steep decline in Lehman's shares began shortly after Dow Jones Newswires reported that the head of South Korea's financial regulator said talks about a possible investment had ended. Lehman chief executive Richard Fuld had been in negotiations with state-owned Korea Development Bank for several weeks about a capital infusion.

However, it appears that report itself is being disputed. Yoo Jae-hoon, a spokesman for South Korea's Financial Services Commission, flatly denied any such statement was made. He said the regulator was "not in a position" to "broadcast how the deal is going."