By CountingPips.com
The US dollar has been trading lower against the other major currencies today in the forex markets following US inflation and housing data releases. The US stock markets, meanwhile, have been close to unchanged in the middle of the US session. The American currency has been on the defensive against the euro, British pound sterling, Japanese yen, New Zealand dollar, Australian dollar and the Swiss franc while trading virtually unchanged against the Canadian dollar.
The US stock markets have been close to unchanged with the Dow Jones higher by approximately 10 points, the
Today’s economic data was led by the US consumer price index (CPI) that showed consumer price inflation rose by 0.2 percent from September to October. The CPI data marks the fourth consecutive month of higher consumer prices following a 0.1 percent gain in September and a 0.3 percent rise in August.
Energy prices contributed to the higher CPI in October with a rise of 2.6 percent while gasoline prices rose by 4.6 percent. Food prices edged higher for third consecutive month with a 0.1 percent increase in October following a rise of 0.3 percent in September.
On an annual basis, consumer prices rose by 1.2 percent over the October 2009 level following a 1.1 percent annual gain in September. The monthly and the yearly data were both slightly below forecasts which were expecting a monthly rise of 0.3 percent and an annual rise of 1.3 percent in October.
Core consumer prices, excluding volatile food and energy costs, were unchanged in October for a third consecutive month. On an annual basis, core prices were 0.6 percent above the October 2009 level.
Housing data: starts fall, building permits almost unchanged
The latest housing data out of the US showed that housing starts fell by over 10 percent in October while building permits edged slightly higher. Housing starts fell by 11.7 percent in October to an annual rate of 519,000 housing starts following September’s annual rate of 588,000, according to the latest data by the US Commerce Department. On an annual basis, October’s level is 1.9 percent below the October 2009 standing.
Building permits, a gauge of future construction, edged higher by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 550,000 permits. This is just above annual rate of September’s 547,000 permits and 4.5 percent lower than the October 2009 level.
Housing completion data released in the same report showed that housing completions fell 3.2 percent in October while falling 18.4 percent on an annual basis from October 2009.