France Says Weak Dollar May Fuel Protections.

France's finance minister on Wednesday urged central bankers to reduce the ''misalignment'' in the world's major currencies, warning that a low American dollar was feeding an increasing trend toward protectionism in the United States and elsewhere. The minister, Christine Lagarde, said the dollar's decline was a central cause for the rising cost of oil, which is priced in American dollars. On Wednesday, the price of a barrel of crude oil settled at another record, $133.17. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]