U.S. housing starts rise less-than-expected, building permits fall

Investing.com - The number of housing starts in the U.S. rose less-than-expected in August, while building permits issued declined, adding to concerns over the U.SD. housing sector, official data showed Wednesday.

In a report, the U.S. Census Bureau that U.S. housing starts rose by 2.3% in August to a seasonally adjusted 0.750 million, below expectations for a 2.85 increase to 0.765 million.

Housing starts for July were revised down to 0.733 million units from a previously reported 0.746 million units.

The report also showed that the number of building permits issued in August fell 1% to a seasonally adjusted 0.803 million, compared to expectations for a decline of 1.8% to 0.796 million.

Building permits issued in July totaled 0.811 million units.

Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar remained higher against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.33% to trade at 1.3005.

Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures held on to modest gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 0.1% at the open, S&P 500 futures indicated a rise of 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled an increase of 0.1%.