Investing.com - The dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Wednesday, still hovering within close distance of a seven-month peak as investors were digesting the release of mixed U.S. housing sector data.
EUR/USD slipped 0.13% to 1.0964, re-approaching Monday’s more than two-month low of 1.0961.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that housing starts slumped 9.0% to 1.047 million units last month from August’s total of 1.150 million units, revised from the initial 1.142 million.
Analysts had expected a rise of 2.5% from the initial number to 1.175 million in August.
Meanwhile, building permits rose 6.3% to 1.225 million units last month from 1.152 million in August. Economists had forecast a 0.9% gain to 1.165 million units in September.
GBP/USD edged up 0.12% to 1.2312. The U.K. Office of National Statistics earlier said that the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.9% between June and August, an almost eleven year low.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose by just 700 to 776,400 in September, the ONS said.
The jobs report came one day after official data showing that the cost of living in the U.K. rose at the fastest rate in 22 months in September.
USD/JPY slid 0.45% to 103.36, while USD/CHF held steady at 0.9897.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.20% at 0.7682 and with NZD/USD gaining 0.35% to 0.7214.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD dropped 0.64% to trade at 1.3027.
The loonie was boosted after the Bank of Canada left its overnight cash rate unchanged at 0.50%, in line with market expectations, as well as keeping the bank rate a 0.75% and the deposit rate at 0.25%.
The BoC also said projected growth of 1.1% in 2016 for Canada with an increase to “about 2%” in both 2017 and 2018.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 97.83, still close to Monday’s seven-month high of 98.15.