The U.S. dollar hit nine-month highs against the euro and rose against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday after strong U.S. housing data bolstered expectations for an earlier-than-expected rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
U.S. housing starts surged 15.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual 1.09-million unit pace in July, snapping two straight months of declines, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected starts to rise to a 969,000-unit rate last month.
"This pretty much indicates that growth here in the U.S. continues to outperform other parts of the world," said Sireen Harajli, a foreign exchange strategist at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York. "It’s just a matter of time before the Fed will have to tighten monetary policy."
Data from EIKON