Dollar Turns In Mixed Performance Against Major Counterparts

(RTTNews) - After displaying some strength in the European session, the U.S. dollar pared gains and stayed largely subdued in the New York session on Tuesday with traders closely following the developments on the geopolitical front and assessing recent data from the U.S., and other major economies.

New residential construction in the U.S. tumbled by more than expected in the month of October, according to a report released by the Commerce Department today.

The report said housing starts dove by 3.1% to an annual rate of 1.311 million in October after slumping by 1.9% to a revised rate of 1.353 million in September. Economists had expected housing starts to decrease by 1.8% to an annual rate of 1.330 million from the 1.354 million originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department said building permits also fell by 0.6% to an annual rate of 1.416 million in October after plunging by 3.1% to a revised rate of 1.425 million in September.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to inch up by 0.1% to a rate of 1.430 million from the 1.428 million originally reported for the previous month.

The dollar index, which climbed to 106.63 in the European session, dropped to 106.11 around late morning, and was at 106.19 a little while ago, netting a marginal gain.

Against the Euro, the dollar gained marginally at 1.0598. The dollar pared early gains and weakened to 1.2686 against Pound Sterling, easing fro $1.2677 a unit of the British currency.

The dollar recovered from early weakness against the Japanese currency, fetching 154.67 yen a unit, after having dropped to 153.29 yen during the European session. The Aussie firmed to U.S. 0.6535.

The dollar dropped against the Loonie, easing to C$ 1.3959 after trading around $1.4040 during the European session. Against Swiss franc, the dollar declined marginally to CHF 0.8825 after hotter-than-expected Canadian inflation data.