The dollar strengthened against the euro after President Barack Obama expressed optimism that the U.S. will emerge from its recession “stronger than before.” The greenback also gained for a third day versus the yen as Obama said the world’s largest economy “will recover” and the tools to revive growth were within reach. Japan’s currency fell for a sixth day against the euro, the longest stretch since April, after the Ministry of Finance said the trade deficit widened in January to the most since at least 1986. “The markets like the fact that Obama’s trying to tighten things up and striking an optimistic tone,” said Gerrard Katz, head of foreign-exchange trading in Hong Kong at Standard Chartered Plc. “That would be supportive of the dollar.” The dollar rose to $1.2816 per euro as of 1:40 p.m. in Tokyo from $1.2846 late yesterday in New York. The greenback climbed to 97.10 yen from 96.64 yen. Obama, delivering his first address to a joint session of Congress, also said the credit crisis paralyzing the banking system must be fixed or “our recovery will be choked off before it even begins.”

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