Wobbly Dollar, Wall Street Woes

Wednesday, November 7th 2007, 4:18 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street plunged and Treasurys jumped Wednesday after the dollar sank further and credit concerns continued to weigh on investors. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 300 points.

The dollar swooned amid speculation that China will seek to diversify some of its foreign currency stockpiles beyond the greenback. Meanwhile, a record loss from General Motors Corporation owing to an accounting adjustment further dragged on the Dow industrials.

Oil traded above $98 per barrel for the first time before retreating, and gold pushed higher, moves exacerbated by an anemic dollar.

The 13-nation euro hit a fresh record against the dollar - rising to $1.4729 - before falling back. The dollar fell not only against the euro but in Asia following a report that a senior Chinese political figure said China should diversify its $1.43 trillion foreign exchange reserves into the euro and other strong currencies.

The euro's rally put it well above the $1.4554 the currency bought late Tuesday in New York. The previous record high, also set Tuesday, was $1.4571.

Financial stocks, battered in recent sessions by big write-downs by names like Citigroup Inc., fell again Wednesday amid fresh concerns about the extent to which bad debt tied to a faltering housing market will hurt balance sheets.

In late afternoon trading, the Dow fell 310.03, or 2.27 percent, to 13,350.91. On Tuesday, the Dow gained about 117 points as some investors looked for bargains despite overhanging concerns about the banking industry's exposure to bad debt.

Broader stock indicators also pulled back Wednesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 37.55, or 2.47 percent, to 1,482.72 _ moving below the psychological benchmark of 1,500. The Nasdaq composite index fell 62.97, or 2.23 percent, to 2,762.21.