By CountingPips.com
The latest housing data out of the US showed that housing starts and building permits rebounded in March after declines in February. Housing starts increased by 7.2 percent in March to an annual rate of 549,000 following February’s decrease by 18.5 percent to an annual rate of 512,000 starts, according to the latest data by the US Commerce Department. On an annual basis and despite the monthly increase, March’s level is 13.4 percent below the March 2010 standing.
Building permits, a measure of future construction, rose by 11.2 percent to an annual rate of 534,000 permits in March. This follows a decrease by 5.2 percent to an annual rate of 594,000 building permits registered in February. On an annual basis, March’s building permits are 13.3 percent lower than the March 2010 level.
Housing completion data, released in the same report, showed that housing completions fell by 14.2 percent in March from February. On an annual basis, completions were below the March 2010 housing completion level by 20.8 percent.
Forex Update: Dollar on the defensive
US dollar has been trading mostly lower against the other major currencies in forex market action today after a gaining day yesterday. The dollar has been losing ground to the euro, British pound sterling, Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar while trading higher against the Swiss franc. The American currency is currently trading close to unchanged against the New Zealand dollar and the Japanese yen, according to data from Oanda.
The US stock markets, meanwhile, have been positive today with the Dow Jones industrial average increasing by over 30 points, the NASDAQ rising by approximately 2 points and the S&P 500 advancing by approximately 4 points at time of writing.
In commodities, gold touched a high close to $1,500 per ounce before retreating a bit to currently trading near the $1495.30 per ounce level and oil has been moderately higher trading at the $108.21 per barrel level.