April 1 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar rose the most against the euro this year as UBS AG and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said they're raising $19 billion, bolstering investor confidence in the world's largest financial institutions.
The U.S. currency gained versus the Swiss franc and Danish krone as Lehman sold $4 billion in shares and UBS announced plans to seek $15 billion in a rights offering. Norway's krone was the biggest loser against the dollar, dropping 1.4 percent, as oil prices declined for a third straight day.
``The market focus has shifted,'' said Michael Malpede, a senior currency analyst in Chicago at Man Global Research, part of Man Group Plc, the world's largest publicly traded hedge-fund manager. ``We are going to see the dollar bounce further.''
The dollar climbed 1.34 percent to $1.55679 per euro at 10:39 a.m. in New York, from $1.5788 yesterday. It advanced 2 percent to 101.75 yen, from 99.69. The euro traded at 158.45 yen, compared with 157.40 yesterday.
The Australian dollar fell 0.3 percent against its U.S. counterpart as the Reserve Bank of Australia kept its benchmark interest rate at 7.25 percent, saying it sees ``moderation in demand growth that will take pressure off inflation.''
The U.S. currency posted its biggest quarterly loss in almost four years against the euro in the first quarter, falling 8.2 percent. The Dollar Index traded on ICE futures in New York, which tracks the currency against those of six trading partners, rose to 72.156, from 71.802 yesterday. It dropped to a record of 70.698 on March 17.
Japanese Yen
The yen fell for a second day against the dollar as Japanese investors sent money overseas in search of higher returns in the fiscal year starting today. The Bank of Japan's Tankan survey showed business confidence declined to a four-year low in March, giving policy makers more reason to cut interest rates this year.
Japan's currency fell 1.7 percent against the South Korean won, 1.5 percent versus the Brazilian real and 1 percent against the pound. Japan's benchmark lending rate of 0.5 percent is the lowest in the industrialized world.
``There's no natural reason why investors should be aggressively seeking out the yen,'' said Simon Derrick, the London-based chief currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon Corp. ``The strength of the yen will really be weighing on Japanese exporters, and investors are looking for higher returns abroad.''
The Tankan's headline index of confidence among large manufacturers dropped to 11 points in March, from 19 in December, the Bank of Japan said today in Tokyo. Japanese investors were net buyers of 185.6 billion yen ($1.9 billion) of overseas securities in the week ended March 22, according to the Ministry of Finance in Tokyo.
Swiss Franc
The U.S. currency increased 1.4 percent to 1.0072 against the Swiss franc as Zurich-based UBS also said today that Chairman Marcel Ospel will step down, to be succeeded by General Counsel Peter Kurer. UBS will write down $19 billion on debt securities, bringing the total to almost $38 billion since the third quarter of 2007.
The dollar strengthened against the euro and rose 1.1 percent versus the Danish krone as Lehman increased the size of its offering to 4 million convertible preferred shares from 3 million announced yesterday.
Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest bank, will write down 2.5 billion euros ($3.9 billion) of loans and asset-backed securities and said markets are deteriorating.
``We've discounted all the bad news in the U.S., not so much in the euro zone,'' said Richard Franulovich, a senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in New York. ``Certainly the tables have turned. Lehman's news indicates progress has been made in addressing the U.S. problems.''
U.S. Manufacturing
The dollar rose further against the yen as manufacturing in the U.S. contracted less than forecast, benefiting from growing exports. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index increased to 48.6 from 48.3 in February. Fifty is the dividing line between contraction and expansion.
Retail sales in Germany, adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings, fell 1.6 percent in February, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. That's the biggest drop since May 2007.
The Federal Reserve has cut its target interest rate by 2 percentage points this year to 2.25 percent to revive economic growth. The European Central Bank has held its main refinancing rate at a six-year high of 4 percent after inflation accelerated to the fastest pace in almost 16 years.
The dollar will likely rise to $1.55 per euro and remain little changed near 100 yen by the end of June, according to the median estimate of 40 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. At the start of 2008, they had expected the dollar to strengthen to $1.48 per euro and 110 yen.
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