The dollar and the Swiss franc rose against higher-yielding counterparts on concern that Europe’s leaders will struggle to find a solution to the debt crisis, threatening the region’s economic recovery. The Dollar Index approached a seven-week high and the franc climbed to a record against the euro. GfK AG said its German consumer confidence index will fall for a third consecutive month in June, with speculation Greece may need to default clouding growth prospects. Orders for U.S. durable goods probably declined in April, a separate report may show. The Swedish krona climbed as the central bank said inflation will accelerate and unemployment fell more than predicted. “The euro-zone debt crisis is still the main concern with the unsolved problems,” said You-na Park, a currency strategist at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “The Swiss franc is a traditional safe haven, therefore when you have uncertainty it can gain. The dollar is still a haven currency.” The dollar gained 0.1 percent to $1.4080 per euro as of 7:31 a.m. in New York. It appreciated to $1.3970 on May 23, the strongest level since March 17. The greenback advanced 0.1 percent to 82.06 yen. The Swiss franc jumped 0.7 percent to 1.2320 per euro after being as strong as 1.2230. It climbed 0.5 percent to 87.60 centimes per dollar. U.S. durable goods orders decreased 2.5 percent following a 4.1 percent jump in March that was the biggest in six months, according to the median forecast of 81 economists in a Bloomberg News survey before the Commerce Department’s report today. The Federal Housing Finance Agency will say house prices in the U.S. declined 0.5 percent from February, a separate survey showed. Dollar Index The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the currencies of six U.S. trading partners, rose 0.2 percent to 76.025. It touched 76.366 on May 23, the highest since April 1. The euro declined against 11 of its 16 peers amid disagreement over how to resolve the sovereign-debt crisis. European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn told French newspaper Les Echos in an interview that Greek debt maturities could be extended on a voluntary basis. He also said at a forum in Paris arranged by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that Greece is the “most difficult case” among the three countries that have received bailouts from the EU and International Monetary Fund. Krona Rises “The debt problem is a negative going forward for the euro,” said Niels Christensen, chief currency strategist at Nordea Bank AB in Copenhagen. “The debt issues are not going to disappear today or tomorrow.” The Swedish krona snapped two days of losses against the euro as Stockholm-based Statistics Sweden said the non- seasonally adjusted jobless rate declined to 7.9 percent in April from 8.1 percent in March. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the rate to ease to 8 percent, according to the median of 13 estimates. Sweden is “getting a stronger and stronger economy, the situation in the labor market is strengthening and we’re seeing that unit labor costs, which previously fell, are now beginning to rise,” Riksbank Deputy Governor Barbro Wickman-Parak said yesterday in an interview in Stockholm, underlining the bank’s commitment to further tightening this year. The krona gained 0.2 percent to 8.9263 per euro. Britain’s pound climbed against most of its major peers after data confirmed that the economy returned to growth. Sterling appreciated 0.5 percent to 86.68 pence per euro. U.K. exports rose 3.7 percent in the first quarter and net trade added a record 1.7 percentage points to gross-domestic-product growth, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. GDP rose 0.5 percent in the quarter and 1.8 percent from a year earlier, matching initial estimates. To contact the reporters on this story: Lukanyo Mnyanda in Edinburgh at lmnyanda@bloomberg.net; Masaki Kondo in Singapore at mkondo3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net

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