Gold Prices Fall Amid Rate Jitters; Copper Steady as China Stimulus Eyed 
Housing starts fell 8.8 percent in March to a 1.09 million-unit rate, led by a 9.2 percent decline in single-family starts. Despite the dip in building activity, on a year-to-date basis, single-family starts are still up 22.2 percent.
Weakness was broad based as both single and multifamily starts reported declines. Building permits also slipped on the month and are now running in line with the pace of starts.
Disappointing results from the US housing sector during March have added further downside pressure to USD, which has been already punished by the resurgence of the risk appetite sentiment since early trade. US dollar index is down 0.35% at 94.16.
"While this report was weak, we believe that the outlook for home-building in America remains favorable. Home-builder confidence remained elevated in April and the trend should continue supported by an increasingly healthy labor market, low interest rates, improving household balance sheets, and a rebound in household formation with a gradual improvement in home-building expected through the remainder of the year." notes TD Economics in a report.
