* Dollar index up as Wall Street trades higher
* Euro slips on disappointment over finance minister reports
* Greenback up half a percent vs Swiss franc
(New throughout; updates market activity; changes byline, dateline, previously LONDON)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose on Wednesday against most major currencies, even as gains on Wall Street dimmed the greenback's safe-haven allure after days of equities volatility. The dollar was 0.35 percent higher to 89.895 at 10:12 a.m. EST (1512 GMT) against a basket of six currencies after advancing for three straight sessions. On Friday it scored its best performance since Oct. 26.
The dollar has benefited as investors sold off riskier assets for the relative safety of the greenback. On Monday, the Dow and S&P 500 U.S. stock indexes posted their biggest declines since August 2011.
"The U.S. dollar has seen a little bit of strength across most trading pairs," said Bill Northey, senior vice president at U.S Bank Wealth Management in Helena, Montana.
"The longer-term impacts around the dollar will really be drawn from economic fundamentals and the path of monetary policy relative to other major trading partners, inflation, and not likely due to short-term market volatility."
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 gained 17.64 points, or 0.65 percent, to 2,712.78.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe last gained 0.76 percent.
The U.S. dollar had reached a high of 109.720 yen earlier as regional equities such as Japan's Nikkei soared, taking their cue from a late rebound on Wall Street.
But it drifted lower as the Nikkei, which rose as much as 3.4 percent, gave back most of its gains on anxiety over more weakness in U.S. share markets as U.S. stock futures fell during Asian trade.
Against the yen, the dollar was last down 0.26 percent to 109.27 yen.
The Swiss franc, a perceived safe haven along with the yen, was down more than half a percent against the dollar .
EURO FALLS
The euro slipped against the greenback on Wednesday, on disappointment over reports that the leader of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD), Martin Schulz, would not be taking over as finance minister for Europe's biggest economy."There was speculation that Mr Schulz could be the next finance minister," said DZ Bank currency strategist Soeren Hettler, in Frankfurt. "(In that scenario), Germany could be more flexible with regard to its financial situation and spend more money."
The euro , which had been trading higher before the news, last fell 0.37 percent to $1.233.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ World FX rates in 2018 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Additional reporting by Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Andrew Hay)
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