U.S. building permits drop 7.5% in June; housing starts tumble 9.9%

The number of building permits issues in the U.S. fell unexpectedly in June, while housing starts tumbled, official data showed Wednesday. 

In a report, the U.S. Census Bureau that the number of building permits issued in June fell 7.5% to a seasonally adjusted 0.911 million, confounding expectations for an increase of 1.5% to 1.000 million units.

Building permits issued in May totaled 0.985 million units.

The report also showed that U.S. housing starts plunged by 9.9% last month to hit a seasonally adjusted 0.836 million, compared to expectations for an increase of 3.9% to 0.959 million.

Housing starts for May were revised up to 0.928 million units from a previously reported 0.914 million units.

Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar trimmed gains against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.05% to trade at 1.3155.

Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures eased down 0.1%, S&P 500 futures pointed to a gain of 0.1%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to an increase of 0.1% at the open.