Shares of Credit Suisse plunged to all-time lows on Wednesday after its top shareholder said he would not plow more cash into the struggling Swiss banking giant — sparking fears that a global banking contagion is spreading.

Credit Suisse reportedly has asked the Swiss National Bank for a “public show of support” as its shaky balance sheet — crippled by withdrawals from skittish customers in recent months — has sparked speculation that a government rescue is coming.

Swiss National Bank responded later on Wednesday that it would support Credit Suisse financially “if necessary,” but signaled it didn’t believe the bank was in immediate danger.

The beleaguered bank has also turned to Swiss regulator Finma, but neither institution has yet decided to intervene publicly — with some sources citing fears of sparking a panic, according to the Financial Times, which cited unnamed sources close to the situation.

Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann told CNBC on Wednesday that the bank was working to emphasize “de-risking” its balance sheet. Asked if the bank would accept government assistance, Lehmann replied: “That’s not the topic.”

“We are regulated, we have strong capital ratios, very strong balance sheet,” he told CNBC. “We are all hands on deck. So that’s not the topic whatsoever.”

Nevertheless, Joost Beaumont, the head of bank research at Dutch financial firm ABN Amro, told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that Credit Suisse’s plunging stock price could be an indication that “investors judge that this bank needs to be rescued.”

Credit Suisse shares on Wednesday recently changed hands at $2.08, giving the once-mighty financial giant a market capitalization of just $8 billion.

“If regulators do not handle the Credit Suisse situation well, this will send shockwaves through the whole sector,” Beaumont said. “To make matter worse, both sides of the Atlantic have banking issues.”

However, Nouriel Roubini, the economist nicknamed “Dr. Doom” after predicting the 2008 global financial meltdown, told Bloomberg News on Wednesday that Credit Suisse has a whopping $800 billion in assets under management.

“The problem is that Credit Suisse, by some standards, might be too big to fail, but also too big to be saved,” Roubini said.

The US Treasury said it was monitoring the situation at Credit Suisse.

Octavio Marenzi, an analyst at Opimas, told the FT that it’s “inevitable” that Switzerland’s national bank and financial regulator will have to “intervene and provide a lifeline” because “any losses by deposit holders would destroy Switzerland’s reputation as a financial centre.”

Credit Suisse customers yanked more than $120 billion of assets during the fourth quarter of last year as anxiety mounted over the bank’s finances. The frantic withdrawals have continued this year, even after the bank raised $4 billion in capital from stockholders.

Ammar Al Khudairy, the chairman of Saudi National Bank, was asked by Bloomberg News whether he would invest more in Credit Suisse, the Zurich-based lender which said on Tuesday that it found “material weaknesses” in its financial reporting over the last two years.

Credit Suisse’s troubles are sending shivers throughout the global banking sector which is still reeling from the recent collapse of US-based lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

“The answer is absolutely not, for many reasons outside the simplest reason, which is regulatory and statutory,” Al Khudairy told Bloomberg News.

“We cannot because we would go above 10%. It’s a regulatory issue,” he told Reuters in a separate interview.

“We are happy with the plan, the transformation plan that they have put forward. It is a very strong bank,” Al Khudairy said on the sidelines of a conference in Riyadh.

“I don’t think they will need extra money; if you look at their ratios, they’re fine. And they operate under a strong regulatory regime in Switzerland and in other countries.”

The Saudi lender acquired a stake of almost 10% last year after it took part in Credit Suisse’s capital raising and committed to investing up to $1.5 billion.

Follow The Post’s coverage of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse

The cost of insuring the company’s bonds against default also shot up.

Five-year credit default swaps on Credit Suisse debt widened to 533 basis points from 549 bps at last close, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Credit Suisse on Tuesday published its annual report for 2022 saying the bank had identified “material weaknesses” in controls over financial reporting and not yet stemmed customer outflows.

Switzerland’s second-biggest bank is seeking to recover from a string of scandals that have undermined the confidence of investors and clients.

Credit Suisse’s woes are weighing heavily on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 500 points as of 11 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday. The S&P 500 dropped by around 1.5%.

The tech-dominated Nasdaq was trading down more than 1%.

The drop in Credit Suisse shares reignited some of the jitters among investors about the resilience of the global banking system in the wake of the collapse of SVB.

With Post Wires