EU split on rescue plan

By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK (Reuters) - EU member nations squabbled over how to rescue their economies from the credit crisis and recession as U.S. Republican senators opposed a bailout of the U.S. auto industry and the dollar entered rocky territory.

Cracks in the global rescue effort emerged just as the U.S. mortgage market -- the spark that set off all the trouble -- showed further distress with a report that foreclosure activity jumped 28 percent year-on-year in November when one in every 488 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing.

Meanwhile the latest U.S. jobs data showed new unemployment claims surging to a 26-year high.

Wall Street was little changed in midday trading, held back by concerns that Senate Republicans might block the $14 billion auto industry loans that the House of Representatives approved late on Wednesday.

Europe's FTSEurofirst closed down 0.7 percent and Japan's Nikkei ended with a 0.7 percent gain.

The dollar showed long-anticipated signs of weakness that analysts expected considering low U.S. interest rates and the deficit spending that will come with economic bailouts.

It fell to a seven-week low versus the yen and a six-week low versus the euro after a rally since July that had been aided by rapid deleveraging, repatriation and relative weakness in Asian and European economies.

Technical factors also weighed on the U.S. currency.