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

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

U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday that privately-owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.206 million, 6.5 percent higher than the previous month and well above market consensus of 1.147 million.

The strong housing data added to the positive builder-confidence report released in the previous session, signaling a robust recovery of U.S. housing market.

The euro rose against the greenback on Tuesday as the newly-released euro zone economic data came out better than expected, dampening market speculation for more stimulus in the region ahead of a European Central Bank meeting scheduled for later this week.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.02 percent at 94.908 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1339 dollars from 1.1326 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.5440 dollars from 1.5467 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar increased to 0.7259 dollar from 0.7252 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 119.92 Japanese yen, higher than 119.43 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar climbed to 0.9565 Swiss franc from 0.9560 Swiss franc, and it went down to 1.2985 Canadian dollars from 1.3023 Canadian dollars. Enditem