(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-08 10:43

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.

The weak dollar helped keep pressure on the price of oil during much of the session. Light, sweet crude fell 33 cents to settle at $96.37 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the goverment reported inventories fell less than expected last week while refinery utilization remained flat.

December gold rose but also came off its highs, adding $10.10 to settle at $833.50 an ounce on the Nymex.

Comments from Federal Reserve officials didn't give investors much reason to reconsider their bets. St. Louis Fed President William Poole said recent weeks have seen the credit markets make clear progress in returning to normal but said the Fed might have to make other rate cuts. Such a move would likely hasten the dollar's fall as investors would seek better interest rates elsewhere. The central bank reduced the federal funds rate in September and again last month.

Corporate news likewise was depressing. GM reported a $39 billion loss for the third quarter due to an accounting shift. The company booked a $38.6 billion noncash charge largely related to establishing a valuation allowance, which is taken when the future benefit of deferred tax assets is less likely to be realized.

GM's loss came to $68.85 per share, compared with a loss of $147 million, or 26 cents per share, in the third quarter last year. The stock fell $2.21, or 6.1 percent, to $33.95.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 10 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.22 billion shares, compared with 3.77 billion shares traded Tuesday.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.94 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.85 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.35 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.46 percent.

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