American focus: the dollar fell.

The dollar fell against the yen for a fourth straight day in the longest stretch of declines in more than two months as reports showed the U.S. economic recovery is gathering pace, fueling demand for the Japanese currency to fund investments in growth.

The U.S. currency weakened against its Australian and New Zealand counterparts as orders for capital equipment rose in November and initial unemployment insurance claims fell in the latest week, a signal the world’s largest economy is speeding up. The euro erased losses against the dollar and the Swiss franc weakened on speculation the Swiss National Bank had intervened to curb the strength of the nation’s currency. A spokesman for the central bank declined to comment.

“Growth currencies are outperforming today against the dollar,” said Win Thin, head of emerging-market strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York. “The data today shows you the U.S. is trying to stage a modest recovery.”

The dollar fell 0.7 percent to 82.95 yen, at 12:17 p.m. in New York, the weakest since Dec. 14, from 83.57 yen yesterday. It was little changed at $1.3101 per euro.

The greenback weakened 1.2 percent against the New Zealand dollar to 74.91 U.S. cents from 74.02 cents yesterday. The U.S. currency slid 0.6 percent versus the Australian dollar to $1.0048 from 99.90 cents.