US STOCKS-Wall St set for fall on GM, oil, dollar

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks headed for a slide at the open Wednesday after General Motors Corp posted its biggest ever quarterly loss, oil moved closer to $100 and the dollar tumbled, adding to worries about the outlook for profits.

Data pointing to moderating wage pressures and a rise in productivity in the third-quarter caused futures to trim some losses.

U.S. crude jumped as high as $98.62 a barrel -- a record -- in electronic trading before weekly U.S. government data expected to show a drop in crude supplies. The report is due at 10:30 a.m. (1530 GMT).

The dollar fell after a senior lawmaker in China suggested a bigger role for the euro in the country's $1.43 trillion foreign reserves and a Chinese central bank official said the dollar is losing its global currency status.

The issue for the stock market is whether investors have discounted enough for a slew of problems, said Al Goldman, strategist at A.G. Edwards in St. Louis.

"Today we're going to test the market and see whether or not it is sold-off enough, whether or not these problems are fully discounted and the market can resume what I think is still the primary trend, which is up."

Goldman listed as concerns the subprime mortgage mess, a weakening dollar, rising oil and General Motors' huge non-cash write-off,

S&P 500 futures slid 15.70 points and were below fair value, a formula to evaluate pricing taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Dow Jones industrial average futures dropped 127 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 15.25 points.

Shares of GM dropped after the largest U.S. automaker said it had a net loss of $68.85 per share, including a record charge for unclaimed tax credits and a loss related to GMAC. GM stock fell 5.2 percent to $34.28 before the bell.

Financial services companies will continue to be in focus as investors worry about more credit loss disclosures. Morgan Stanley shares were down 3.2 percent at $52.75 before the bell. (Additional reporting by Herb Lash; Editing by Kenneth Barry)