Investing.com - The dollar remained mostly higher against a basket of other major currencies on Wednesday, after the release of positive U.S. housing data and as markets awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that the number of building permits issued last month increased by 4.8% to 1.080 million units from September's revised total of 1.031 million.
Analysts expected building permits to rise by 0.9% to 1.040 million units in October.
The report also showed that U.S. housing starts fell by 2.8% last month to hit 1.009 million units from September’s total of 1.038 million units, compared to expectations for a drop to 1.025 million.
USD/JPY climbed to fresh seven-year highs of 117.65 earlier in the session and was last up 0.62% at 117.60.
The yen came under pressure after Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced on Tuesday plans to delay a sales tax hike due to take place next year after an increase in April played a part in pulling Japan into a recession.
He also called elections for December, to seek a fresh mandate for his economic policies.
The decision came after data showed that Japan’s economy fell back into recession in the third quarter, contracting by an annualized 1.6% after a 7.3% contraction in the previous quarter.
The yen remained close to six-year lows against the euro, with EUR/JPY touching highs of 147.55, before pulling back to 147.44.
The euro held steady against the dollar, with EUR/USD at 1.2539.
The single currency remained mildly supported after a stronger-than-forecast German ZEW economic sentiment index bolstered the outlook for the euro zone’s largest economy.
The pound rose against the dollar, with GBP/USD adding 0.24% to 1.5669 after the minutes of the Bank of England's November policy meeting showed that members voted unanimously to keep the asset puschase facility program on hold.
However, members Martin Weale and Ian McCafferty voted for the fourth consecutive time to raise interest rates to 0.75% from a record-low 0.5%.
USD/CHF eased 0.08% to 0.9577, while EUR/CHF held steady near 26-month lows at 1.2014, not far from the Swiss National Bank’s exchange rate cap of 1.20 per euro.
The Swiss franc has strengthened against the euro in recent sessions ahead of a vote later this month which could force the SNB to increase its gold reserves, a move which could restrict its ability to cap the value of the franc against the euro.
The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars were broadly weaker, with AUD/USD retreating 0.89% to 0.8640 and NZD/USD down 0.73% to 0.7865, while USD/CAD gained 0.45% to 1.1349.
The US dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.07% at 87.69.
Later in the day, the Federal Reserve was to publish the minutes of its October meeting.