1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar mixed amid upbeat data

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against other major currencies on Tuesday amid the country's strong economic data.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday that privately-owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,206,000, the highest level since October 2007.

The latest reading was 0.2 percent above the revised June estimate of 1,204,000 and was 10.1 percent above the July 2014 rate of 1,095,000.

The positive housing starts report added to the recent robust jobs and retail sales data, bolstering market speculation for an interest-rate hike as soon as September.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.20 percent at 96.997 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1024 dollars from 1.1080 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound climbed to 1.5663 dollars from 1.5592 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar dropped to 0.7340 dollar from 0. 9379 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 124.39 Japanese yen, lower than 124.43 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar hiked to 0.9782 Swiss franc from 0.9769 Swiss franc, and it inched down to 1.3059 Canadian dollars from 1.3084 Canadian dollars. Endite