Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

    NEW YORK, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The dollar fell sharply against most major currencies on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its key rate to a historic low.

    The Fed lowered its target for the federal funds rate by more than 75 basis points to a range of zero to 0.25 percent on Tuesday. The dollar fell across the board after the rate cut.

    Some analysts said the dollar's rising trend since summer may have come to an end. Risk aversion has been driving investors to the U.S. currency for safe-haven in the last few months. But attraction of the greenback is fading amid record low rates and weak economic outlook in the U.S.

    The euro could touch 1.50 against the dollar by the end of this year, analysts said. Some top officials of the European Central Bank have signaled recently that ECB may keep rate unchanged in the near future rather than make more rate cuts.

    The pound only rose slightly against the dollar and fell to record low against the euro. The British currency will weaken further as the Bank of England is expected to cut rate again by year-end, analysts said.

    The euro bought 1.4349 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.3976 dollars it bought late Tuesday. The pound rose to 1.5476 dollars from 1.5469 dollars.

    The dollar fell to 1.1987 Canadian dollars from 1.2127 Canadian dollars, and fell to 87.96 Japanese yen from 89.35 Japanese yen. It fell to 1.0779 Swiss francs from 1.1275 Swiss francs.