A toxic combination of events sent stock market indexes into free-fall yesterday, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging more than 360 points amid worries about the dollar, subprime mortgages and oil.

By the time the closing bell rang, New York Stock Exchange traders were almost too exhausted to begin adding up the damage.

“We kinda got beaten up today; frankly, I’m feeling a little brutalized,” said Andy Brooks, head of trading at T. Rowe Price. “The last hour of the market was just straight down.”

The Dow ended the day down 360.92 points, or 2.64 percent, to 13,300.02. The Nasdaq composite index kept pace, plunging 76.42, or 2.7 percent, to 2,748.76, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 44.65 points, or 3 percent, to 1,475.62.

Traders’ screens were a sea of red charts: for every stock that did manage to eke out a modest advance, another nine lost ground – a particularly bleak ratio, according to market pundits who track these sentiment indicators.

The bloodshed began when a senior Chinese official hinted that Chinese financial authorities would seek to reduce their exposure to the U.S. dollar. Assets like U.S. Treasury bills make up a dominant part of China’s reserves, but the official warned that the country’s leaders “will favor stronger currencies over weaker ones, and will readjust accordingly.”

While the greenback wasn’t mentioned specifically, the intent of the comments was clear. Though economists quibbled over the politician’s ability to dictate or influence monetary or currency policy, in an already highly nervous market, the comments were enough to ignite a panicky sell-off in dollar-denominated assets.

The greenback itself ended the day at lower levels against the British pound, and hit a record low of $1.4731 against the euro.

Making matters worse, fears of $100-a-barrel oil were stoked again after crude hit an intraday record of $98.62. Prices ultimately backed off those highs, closing at $96.37.

The market also digested auto giant General Motors’ $39 billion loss for its third quarter.

“You have to really work at it to come up with a loss that big,” said an amazed Hans Olsen, chief investment office at JPMorgan Private Client Services. “It’s enormous – and even without the write-offs, they still couldn’t meet their previous estimates.”

That kind of shock came at just the wrong time. In the wake of the subprime market meltdown in August, investors remain fearful of other shocks that may be lurking in the wings.