Investing.com - The dollar held steady at seven-month highs against the other major currencies on Tuesday, after the release of mixed U.S. housing sector data, as hopes that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its meeting next month continued to support the greenback.
USD/JPY was steady at one-month highs of 123.49.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that housing starts dropped 11% to 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 U.S. building permits issued rose 4.1% to 1.150 million units from September’s total of 1.105 million, broadly in line with market expectations
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by expectations that the Fed will hike rates before the years end.
Investors were looking ahead to the minutes of the Fed’s October meeting, due out later in the day, for further indications on the prospects for a December rate hike.
EUR/USD added 0.12% to 1.0654, still close to the previous session's six-month lows of 1.0630
The euro's gains were held in check as the European Central Bank is expected to expand its quantitative easing program and possibly cut rates further into negative territory at its December meeting.
The single currency also remained under pressure amid concerns that the terrorist attacks in Paris could undermine the already fragile economic recovery in the region.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD at 1.5203 and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.41% to 1.0188.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD shedding 0.23% to 0.7094 and with NZD/USD slipping 0.26% to 0.6454.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD edged 0.15% higher to trade at 1.3341.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 99.69, close to the seven-month high of 99.85 reached overnight.