Investing.com - The number of housing starts and building permits issued in the U.S. both rose more than expected in June, bolstering optimism over the health of the U.S. housing sector, official data showed Tuesday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that housing starts jumped 4.8% to hit a seasonally adjusted 1.189 million units last month from May’s total of 1.135 million units, a downward revision from the initial 1.164 million. Analysts had expected an increase to 1.170 million in June.
Meanwhile, the number of building permits issued increased 1.5% to a seasonally adjusted 1.153 million units from 1.136 million. Economists had forecast a rise to 1.150 million units in June.
After the release, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1028 from around 1.1032 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3134 from 1.3144 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 106.35 from 106.25 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, traded at 97.04, compared to 97.00 before the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures were trading slightly lower. The blue-chip Dow futures dropped 4 points, or 0.02%, the S&P 500 futures lost 5 points, or 0.22%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 11 points, or 0.25%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,332.10 a troy ounce, compared to $1,332.15 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $46.06 a barrel from $46.16 earlier.