US: Housing Starts decline by 0.8% in March, Building Permits decrease by 8.8%

• Housing Starts and Building Permits in the US contracted in March.
• US Dollar Index stays deep in negative territory below 102.00.

The monthly data published by the US Census Bureau revealed on Tuesday that Housing Starts declined by 0.8% on a monthly basis in March following February's increase of 7.3% (revised from 9.8%). This reading came in much worse than the market expectation for an increase of 0.4%.

In the same period, Building Permits plunged by 8.8%, compared to market expectation of +1.45%. On a positive note, February's increase of 13.8% got revised higher to 15.8%.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index stays on the back foot after this report and the US Dollar Index was last seen losing 0.35% on the day at 101.72.