U.S. dollar climbs on upbeat housing data

The U.S. dollar rallied against other major currencies on Thursday as housing data from the country came out positive.

Total existing home sales, which consist of completed transactions of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, surged 3.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million units in September from a slight downwardly-revised 5.30 million in July, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Thursday.

The latest reading was higher than market consensus of 5.35 million.

The greenback rose sharply against the euro after the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that the bank kept a wide range of options open for further stimulus by year-end.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.38 percent at 98.291 in late trading, the highest level in more than seven months.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0927 dollars from 1.0966 dollars, and the British pound slipped to 1.2251 dollars from 1.2274 dollars. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7629 dollars from 0.7717 dollars.

The dollar bought 103.98 Japanese yen, higher than 103.38 yen in the previous session. The dollar inched up to 0.9930 Swiss francs from 0.9896 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.3223 Canadian dollars from 1.3126 Canadian dollars. Enditem