US: Housing Starts rise by 9.8% in February vs. -0.6% expected

Housing Starts and Building Permits in US rose sharply in February.
US Dollar Index stays under modest bearish pressure despite upbeat data.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

The monthly data published by the US Census Bureau revealed on Thursday that Housing Starts increased by 9.8% on a monthly basis in February following January's 2% decline. This reading came in much better than the market expectation for a drop of 0.6%.

In the same period, Building Permits surged by 13.8%, compared to the market expectation for a contraction of 0.5%.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index stays on the back foot despite the upbeat data and was last seen losing 0.37% on the day at 104.34.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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