U.S. housing starts, building permits and housing completions increased in the month of February according to data released by the Commerce Department on new residential construction. Housing Starts unexpectedly increased by 22.2 percent in 
February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 starts following a revised annual rate of 477,000 housing starts in January. February’s data was better than economic forecasts predicting a decline for the month to a 450,000 starts pace.
Building permits statistics, used as a predictor of future construction, showed a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 547,000 permits in February which is a gain of 3.0 percent compared to January. February’s permits also surpassed forecasts expecting permits to number approximately 500,000 annually.
Housing Completions for February increased when compared to January as completions rose to an annual rate of 785,000 privately-owned housing completions. This is an increase of 2.3 percent when from January’s completion totals.
Producer Prices edge up in February.
US Producer Prices increased less than expected in February according to a release by Department of Labor today. February’s producer prices edged up by 0.1 percent following an increase of 0.8 percent in January. On an annual basis, producer prices have fallen by 1.3 percent compared to the February 2008 level and follow January’s 1.0 percent annual decline. Economic forecasts were expecting producer prices to increase by 0.4 percent for the month and to decline by 1.4 percent on an annual basis.
Core producer prices, excluding food and energy prices, grew by 0.2 percent in February following a 0.4 percent increase in January. On an annual basis, core prices have gained by 4.0 percent over the February 2008 level. Forecasts were expecting the core prices to increase by 0.1 percent in February and by 3.8 percent on an annual basis.
US Dollar showing gains today in forex trading.
The U.S. dollar has been stronger in forex trading today against the major currencies as the dollar has gained versus the euro, British pound, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen and New Zealand dollar while falling against the Swiss franc.
The euro has declined versus the dollar today as the EUR/USD has gone from today’s 1.3004 opening exchange rate at 00:00 GMT to trading at approximately 1.2972 in the US trading session at 12:03pm EST according to currency data by Oanda.
The British pound has fallen today versus the American currency from 1.4123 to trading at 1.4026 dollars per pound. The dollar has advanced against the Japanese yen today as the USD/JPY has gained from its 98.32 opening to trading at 98.77.
The dollar has also gained against the Canadian dollar after opening at 1.2697 earlier today to trading at 1.2722. Meanwhile, the USD has fallen slightly against the Swiss franc from 1.1838 to trading at 1.1824.
The Australian dollar has declined versus the USD as the AUD/USD trades at 0.6586 after opening today at 0.6608 while the New Zealand dollar has fallen versus the USD and trades at 0.5287 after opening at the 0.5312 exchange rate.
Stay tuned tomorrow as the Federal Reserve interest rate decision is scheduled for 18:15pm GMT with market forecasts expecting the Fed to hold the interest rate at 0.25 percent.
USD/JPY Chart – The US dollar advancing against the Japanese yen today in Forex Trading and looking poised to make a run at 100 yen per usd. The dollar has not been above 100 yen per usd since early November.
