Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

    NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The dollar rose against the euro but fell against the pound Wednesday in the final session of 2008.

    The dollar was bolstered by the latest move to boost economy from the U.S. Federal Reserve and a larger-than-expected drop in the jobless claims. Trade was thin as many investors were absent from the market for New Year holiday.

    The Fed announced Tuesday night that, in a bid to lower the mortgage cost, it aims to buy 500-billion-dollar mortgage-backed securities by mid-2009.

    Market sentiment was also lifted after the U.S. Labor Department reported that initial claims for jobless benefits in the week ending Dec. 27 decreased by 94,000 to 492,000, a far larger decline than the market had predicted.

    It was the lowest reading for initial claims since the week ended Nov. 1. The 4-week moving average was 552,250, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 558,000.

    The euro bought 1.3954 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4087 dollars it bought late Tuesday. The pound rose to 1.4556 dollars from 1.4412 dollars.

    The dollar fell to 1.2142 Canadian dollars from 1.2256 Canadian dollars, and rose to 90.90 Japanese yen from 90.29 Japanese yen. It rose to 1.0721 Swiss francs from 1.0577 Swiss francs.