Investing.com - The dollar held steady close to one-week highs against the other major currencies in quiet trade on Wednesday, as the previous session's upbeat housing sector data continued to lend mild support to the greenback.
The dollar was steady against the euro, with EUR/USD at 1.1353.
The greenback remained supported after the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that housing starts rose 6.5% to 1.206 million units last month from August’s total of 1.132 million units. Analysts had expected a figure of 1.140 million.
However, the report also showed that the number of building permits issued dropped by 5.0% to 1.103 million units from August’s total of 1.170 million. Analysts expected building permits to fall by 0.9% to 1.164 million units in July.
Meanwhile, the single currency strengthened as investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank's policy meeting on Thursday amid speculation that it could flag plans to enlarge its stimulus program.
The dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.12% at 119.99.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD at 1.5451 and was higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF adding 0.12% to 0.9573.
Sterling eased off a one-week trough against the dollar after the U.K. Office for National Statistics reported that public sector net borrowing fell to £8.63 billion in September from £10.79 billion in August, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated £11.31 billion.
Analysts had expected public sector net borrowing to decline to £9.40 billion last month.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD declining 0.50% to 0.7223 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.35% to 0.6727.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD edged up 0.12% to trade at 1.2999. Investors were eyeing the Bank of Canada's monetary policy statement due later in the day.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 94.87, not far from Monday's one-week highs of 95.05.