The euro rose against the dollar and the yen after French and German leaders pledged to deliver a plan to help banks and repeated a commitment to keep Greece in the single-currency area.

The Dollar Index declined as European and Asian stocks advanced, sapping demand for the U.S. currency as a haven. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after a briefing in Berlin yesterday they had given themselves three weeks to devise a plan to recapitalize banks and get Greece on the right track. The pound fell against the euro as a report showed Britons’ confidence in the outlook for employment fell to its lowest since February.

“People are hopeful to an extent that the politicians can get ahead of the crisis,” said Jeremy Stretch, executive director of foreign-exchange strategy at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in London. “The fact that equities are trading higher is also moderately encouraging.”

The euro jumped 1.1 percent to $1.3520 as of 8:56 a.m. in London, from $1.3378 in New York on Oct. 7. It strengthened 1 percent to 103.64 yen. The Japanese currency was little changed at 76.67 per dollar. The British pound weakened 0.8 percent to 86.63 pence per euro and was 0.4 percent stronger at $1.5618.

European leaders will deliver a plan by the Group of 20 summit on Nov. 3, Sarkozy said. Europe’s leaders will do “everything necessary” to ensure banks have enough capital to weather the region’s debt crisis, Merkel said.

The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the currencies of six U.S. trade partners including the euro and the yen, declined 0.9 percent to 78.061.