Investing.com - The euro held steady against the U.S. dollar on Wedmesday, as Tuesday's upbeat U.S. housing sector data continued to lend support to the greenback, while investors began to focus on the European Central Bank's monthly policy statement expected on Thursday.
EUR/USD hit 1.1386 during European afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.1346.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.1303, the low of October 19 and resistance at 1.1412, the high of October 13.
The dollar strengthened mildly 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 found some support as investors looked ahead to the ECB's policy meeting on Thursday amid speculation that it could flag plans to enlarge its stimulus program.
The euro was steady against the pound, with EUR/GBP at 0.7351.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics earlier 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.