Stocks

Stocks rise following drop in jobless claims: Stocks climbed Wednesday following a drop in weekly unemployment claims to the lowest level of the year and a rise in new home sales. The market's gains were modest on light trading volume ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. The government said new claims for unemployment insurance fell by 35,000 last week to 466,000. That's the fewest claims since September last year, and better than the 500,000 that economists had expected.

Fed

Fed tightens conflict of interest rules: The Federal Reserve on Wednesday tightened the conflict of interest restrictions governing the boards of directors of its 12 regional banks. The new rules were passed to deal with potential conflicts such as one that involved Stephen Friedman, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The requirements take effect immediately and spell out the obligations of directors with ties to financial institutions that change status while the official is serving on a Fed regional board.

DOLLAR

Dollar hits 15-month low; steepest drop since July: The safe-haven dollar slid to a 15-month low against the euro, was within striking distance of 14-year lows versus the yen and dipped below parity against the Swiss franc Wednesday as markets absorbed the Federal Reserve's indication that

interest rates will remain at super-low levels for a while and it was not overly concerned by the U.S. currency's decline. Against a basket of six currencies including the euro, yen and franc, the dollar fell as low as 74.245, its weakest point since August 2008 and its steepest one-day drop since July 31, said Joseph Trevisani, chief market analyst at FXSolutions. The 16-nation euro climbed as high as $1.5142 Wednesday, its strongest level since August 2008. In late New York trading, it read $1.5139 from $1.4975 late Tuesday. The break above $1.51 sets the dollar up for possible steep drops this weekend.

Automotive

GM not talking to any new Saab suitors: General Motors Co. has not talked with any other potential buyers for the Swedish Saab brand since a specialty car maker pulled out of a deal to buy it this week, a person briefed on GM's plans said Wednesday. The development is another sign that GM's board may decide when it meets next week to let the storied brand go out of business, placing 4,500 jobs in jeopardy. The person, who asked not to be identified because no final decision has been made on the brand, confirmed Wednesday that the board would discuss Saab's future on Dec. 1.

— Associated Press