Investing.com - The number of housing starts issued in the U.S. tumbled in October, while building permits rose more than forecast, painting a mixed picture of the U.S. housing sector, official data showed Wednesday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that housing starts dropped 11% to hit a seasonally adjusted 1.060 million units last month from September’s total of 1.191 million units. Analysts had expected a decline of 3.9% to 1.160 million.
Meanwhile, the number of building permits issued rose 4.1% to a seasonally adjusted 1.150 million units from September’s total of 1.105 million, broadly in line with market expectations.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0663 from around 1.0665 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5208 from 1.5210 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 123.48 from 123.45 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 99.65, compared to 99.62 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets was modestly upbeat. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 35 points, or 0.2%, at the open, the S&P 500 futures indicated a rise 4 points, or 0.16%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures increased 13 points, or 0.28%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,067.40 a troy ounce, compared to $1,067.70 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $40.95 a barrel from $41.05 earlier.