USD Mixed Ahead of Central Bank Decisions

The dollar was mixed in the Tuesday session, losing ground against the euro and the Loonie despite better than expected US economic reports. The February housing starts figure unexpectedly jumped to 583k units, up by 22.2% from a month earlier at 466k units. Building permits also beat consensus estimates, improving to 547k units defying calls for a decline to 500k units from 531k units in the previous month. Producer prices for February were mixed with the headline prices at 0.1%, down from the previous month at 0.8% while declining by 1.3% on an annualized basis versus a 1.0% drop previously.
The key highlight for Wednesday will be the FOMC monetary policy decision, due out around 2:15 pm. While the Fed’s room for maneuver is limited at this point, the accompanying policy statement will likely reiterate the FOMC’s support for providing the necessary means to prop up the economy. Additional reports due out tomorrow include February CPI and the current account balance