Housing starts for August came in above expectations, rising 10.5% month-over-month from a downwardly revised 541,000 annual rate of units in July to a rate of 598,000 units. Building permits rose more than expected in August, increasing 1.8% to an annual rate of 569,000, while July’s figure was downwardly revised by 6,000 to 559,000.
At the conclusion of the one-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting no changes were made to the fed funds target rate, currently at a level between 0-0.25%, and the Committee said it will also maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its securities holdings. The Fed noted that the pace of recovery in output and employment has slowed in recent months. More from Bloomberg...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 7 points (0.1%) to close at 10,761, the S&P 500 Index was 3 points (0.3%) lower at 1,140, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 6 points (0.3%) to 2,349. Crude oil declined $1.34 to $73.52 per barrel, and the Bloomberg gold spot price advanced $10.15 to $1,288.50 per ounce.
Magnificent Seven Update
