Dollar mixed against major currencies

NEW YORK, Dec. 26 (Chinese media) -- The dollar dipped against the euro but rose slightly against the pound and the yen on Friday in thin trading.

The market was closed on Thursday for Christmas holiday. The dollar moved in small ranges on Friday, as there was no new economic reports or financing actions from the U.S. government.

The greenback was boosted slightly as Wall Street rose moderately after GMAC Financial Services, the financing arm of General Motors, was approved to become a bank holding company.

On the other hand, the U.S. currency was under pressure from reports that showed U.S. retail sales during the Christmas-New Year period plunged amid a prolonged recession.

Total retail sales dropped by up to 8 percent during the traditional November-December shopping period, the MasterCard Inc.'s Spending Pulse unit said in a preliminary survey report.

Investors are waiting for possible intervention actions from Japanese government. The yen has risen sharply against the dollar recently, hurting Japan's export.

The euro bought 1.4067 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.3999 dollars late Wednesday. The pound fell to 1.4677 dollars from 1.4752 dollars.

The dollar rose to 1.2221 Canadian dollars from 1.2156 Canadian dollars, and rose to 90.58 Japanese yen from 90.39 Japanese yen. It fell to 1.0675 Swiss francs from 1.0740 Swiss francs.