NEW YORK, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar went up in late trading Friday on better-than-expected housing start data.
The U.S. privately-owned housing starts in December 2019 jumped to a 13-year high of 1.608 million units in comparison with 1.375 million units in November 2019 and market expectation of 1.373 million units, according to the data issued by the U.S. Consensus Bureau on Friday.
The latest housing data, together with retail sales data issued Thursday, seem to have assuaged concerns on the health of the U.S. consumer and household markets, according to Bipan Rai, North American head of foreign exchange strategy at CIBC Capital Markets.
"With risk appetite having reached extended levels on the back of the recent relief rally, we think that additional U.S. dollar downside could prove limited absent evidence of reflationary activity," said a research note issued by Bank of America Global Research on Friday.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.3 percent to 97.609 at 3:00 p.m. (2000 GMT).
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1093 dollars from 1.1135 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.3016 dollars from 1.3066 dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar was down to 0.6874 U.S. dollar from 0.6894 U.S. dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 110.15 Japanese yen, higher than 110.13 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.9678 Swiss franc from 0.9647 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.3063 Canadian dollars from 1.3047 Canadian dollars.
