US: Privately-owned housing starts in August were at 1,180,000, 0.8% below July estimate

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

"Privately-owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,180,000. This is 0.8 percent below the revised July estimate of 1,190,000, but is 1.4 percent above the August 2016 rate of 1,164,000," the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced on Tuesday.

Key highlights:

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,300,000.
This is 5.7 percent above the revised July rate of 1,230,000 and is 8.3 percent above the August 2016 rate of 1,200,000.
Privately-owned housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,075,000.
This is 10.2 percent below the revised July estimate of 1,197,000, but is 3.4 percent above the August 2016 rate of 1,040,000.

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.

EUR/USD: Breakdown below trading range support near 1.1770 comes into play

The EUR/USD pair opens with a bearish gap at the start of a new week as the US-Iran war-led global flight to safety boosts the US Dollar. Spot prices, however, lack follow-through selling and manage to hold above mid-1.1700s during the Asian session.

GBP/USD targets 1.3500 barrier near moving averages

GBP/USD rebounds from the daily losses, trading around 1.3450 during the Asian hours on Monday. The technical analysis of the daily chart indicates an ongoing bearish bias, as the pair trades within a descending channel pattern.

Gold jumps over 2% toward $5,400 after US, Israel attack Iran

Gold is on fire at the start of the week, a widely expected move, as investors seek harbor in the traditional store of value, following the continued US and Israel attacks on Iran. The bright metal opened with a bullish gap of about $17 and rallied toward the $5,400 level as Asian traders hit their desks and reacted negatively to the weekend news of the Middle East conflict, rushing for cover in Gold.

Iran escalation: Quick thoughts on markets

Markets are likely to open the week with risk-off, with declines led by airlines, cyclicals and trade-exposed names, while energy, defense and “strategic” sectors may be relatively steadier.

Crisis in the Middle East: The market reaction

A primer on how markets will open on Monday, and why geopolitical risk may not be easily absorbed by financial markets this time around. Geopolitics and events between Iran, the US and the wider Middle East will dominate financial markets on Monday. The situation has continued to escalate as we move through Sunday.

Starknet unveils strkBTC, shielded Bitcoin transactions on Ethereum Layer 2

Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, today announced strkBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin asset that introduces optional shielding while preserving full DeFi composability.