* Canadian dollar rises 0.1% against the greenback
* Canadian housing starts rise 1.9% in August
* The price of U.S. oil rises 0.8%
* Canada's 10-year yield touches a near six-week high at 1.384%
TORONTO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, approaching a near six-week high reached the previous day, as oil prices rose and domestic data showed a surprise increase in housing starts.
At 9:15 a.m. (1315 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4 was trading 0.1% higher at 1.3162 to the greenback, or 75.98 U.S. cents. The currency, which on Monday notched its strongest since July 31 at 1.3140, traded in a range of 1.3161 to 1.3191.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose to 226,639 units from a revised 222,467 in July, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said. Economists had expected starts to fall to 215,000 units. data from Statistics Canada showed that the value of Canadian building permits rose by 3.0% in July from June. construction side of the Canadian housing market still looks rock solid," Robert Kavcic, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in a note.
Amid signs of firm domestic economic activity, the Bank of Canada last week left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.75%. The central bank has sat on the sidelines this year even as some of its major peers, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, have cut rates.
Meanwhile, the price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, was boosted by optimism that OPEC and other producing countries may agree to extend output cuts to support prices. U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 were up 0.8% at $58.29 a barrel.
Canadian government bond prices were lower across the yield curve in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. The two-year CA2YT=RR fell 2.5 Canadian cents to yield 1.565% and the 10-year CA10YT=RR was down 20 Canadian cents to yield 1.372%.
The 10-year yield touched its highest intraday level since Aug. 2 at 1.384%.