FOREX-Dollar gains on GSE takeover; yen, Swiss franc down

* Dollar index hits one-year high on Freddie, Fannie news

* Takeover seen bolstering U.S. economic recovery

* Yen, Swiss franc slide broadly on renewed risk appetite (Updates prices, adds comment, changes byline)

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The dollar climbed to a one-year peak versus a basket of currencies on Monday, as investors cheered the government's takeover of the two biggest mortgage finance agencies in a bid to restore confidence in the U.S. financial sector.

The bailout of the beleaguered Freddie Mac (FRE.N) and Fannie Mae (FNM.N), which own or guarantee half of the United States' $12 trillion in outstanding home mortgage debt, also prompted investors to wade back into risky trades, by buying higher-yielding currencies and selling the yen.

Overall, analysts viewed the U.S. Treasury move as a positive step in staving off wider financial and housing market weakness.

"On balance, the takeover of Fannie and Freddie is a net positive for the U.S. dollar because it shores up confidence in the U.S. financial sector," said Omer Esiner, a senior market analyst, at Ruesch International on Washington.

"Having said that, I don't think the government action represents a silver bullet for all the problems facing the housing market and the economy. There are still so many questions about this bail-out."

In midday trading, the U.S. dollar index on the ICE Futures Exchange, which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of six currencies, surged to a one-year high of 79.416.DXY, according to Reuters data. It was last up 0.9 percent at 79.206.

The euro fell to $1.4164 EUR=, the lowest in nearly 11 months. It last traded at $1.4198, down half a percent from late on Friday.

The dollar initially fell in the aftermath of the weekend action as investors took the government's takeover of the stricken government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) as an excuse to buy riskier assets, sending stock markets soaring and the low-yielding Japanese yen sharply lower.

The dollar last traded up 0.3 percent at 108.46 yen JPY=. The euro was slightly down versus the yen at 153.67 EURJPY=.

BUDGET IMPLICATIONS OF BAIL-OUT

But while the news did much to alleviate concern about systemic financial market risks, it did little to change fundamentals that had started to drive the dollar higher prior to the weekend -- slowing growth in the euro zone and the UK.

And this should mean continued dollar gains in the weeks ahead.