Investing.com - The number of housing starts and building permits issued in the U.S. both missed consensus in August, dampening 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 tumbleed 5.8% to hit a seasonally adjusted 1.142 million units last month from July’s total of 1.212 million units, a slight upward revision from the initial 1.211 million. Analysts had expected a decline of 1.7% from the initial number to 1.190 million in August.
Meanwhile, the number of building permits issued unexpectedly declined 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted 1.139 million units from 1.144 million. Economists had forecast a 2.5% rise to 1.170 million units in August.
After the release, the dollar showed little reaction. EUR/USD was trading at 1.1182 from around 1.1183 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.2967 from 1.2972 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 101.83 from 101.85 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was unchanged at 95.83.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures were trading slightly higher. The blue-chip Dow futures gained 58 points, or 0.32%, the S&P 500 futures rose 7 points, or 0.34%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 16 points, or 0.33%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,317.55 a troy ounce, compared to $1,318.15 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $43.31 a barrel from $43.38 earlier.