U.S. dollar rebounds amid upbeat data

NEW YORK, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar rose against other major currencies on Friday, as investors pondered over a batch of positive economic reports.

The U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday that privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.326 million, 9.7 percent above the revised December estimate of 1.209 million.

The latest reading marked the highest level since October 2016 and beat market expectations.

The University of Michigan's mid-month report on U.S. consumer sentiment showed that the index rose to 99.9 in February, 4.4 percent higher than the previous month and registered as its second-highest level since 2004.

Meanwhile, U.S. import prices increased 1.0 percent in January, above market estimates of 0.6 percent, while prices for U.S. exports rose 0.8 percent in January following a 0.1-percent increase the previous month, the Labor Department said Friday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.59 percent at 89.119 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.2414 dollars from 1.2507 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dipped to 1.4020 dollars from 1.4098 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar lost to 0.7905 dollar from 0.7938 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 106.31 Japanese yen, higher than 106.26 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.9277 Swiss franc from 0.9226 Swiss francs, and it moved up to 1.2553 Canadian dollars from 1.2484 Canadian dollars. Enditem