The dollar is turning in a mixed performance against its major rivals Wednesday afternoon, but remains little changed overall. The buck is down against its major European rivals, but is gaining ground against the Japanese Yen.

The release of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book this afternoon has had little impact on the dollar. The Fed reported few signs of an uptick in inflation

Reports from all 12 Federal Reserve Districts indicated that economic activity increased in September through early October, with the pace of growth split between modest and moderate.

The Richmond, Atlanta, and Dallas Districts reported major disruptions from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in some areas and sectors, including transportation, energy, and agriculture. Manufacturing activity and nonfinancial services expanded modestly to moderately in most Districts.

With Hurricanes Harvey and Irma disrupting new residential construction in the South, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing a substantial decrease in housing starts in the month of September.

The Commerce Department said housing starts plunged by 4.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.127 million in September from the revised August estimate of 1.183 million. Housing starts has been expected to edge down by 0.5 percent.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, also tumbled by 4.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.215 million in September from a revised 1.272 million in August. Economists had expected building permits to drop by 2.9 percent.

Accommodative monetary policy opens window of opportunity to take structural reforms, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Wednesday.

He observed that crisis confirmed that more flexible economies are more resilient, especially for countries that are part of a monetary union.

Lessons about how to design and implement reforms so as to maximize their benefits and minimize their short-term costs should be put into practice, Draghi said at a conference in Frankfurt.

The dollar has dropped to around $1.18 against the Euro Wednesday afternoon, from an early high of $1.17.31.

Eurozone construction output declined for the first time in five months in August, figures from Eurostat showed Wednesday. Construction output fell 0.2 percent month-over-month in August, after remaining flat in July, which was revised down from a 0.2 percent rise reported initially.

The buck reached an early high of $1.3139 against the pound sterling Wednesday, but has since retreated to around $1.32.

The UK unemployment rate held steady at the lowest level since 1975 and the wage squeeze continued, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. The ILO jobless rate came in at 4.3 percent in the three months to August, the lowest since 1975, and in line with expectations. In the same period of 2016, the rate was 5 percent.

The greenback has climbed to over a 1-week high of Y112.900 against the Japanese Yen Wednesday afternoon, from an early low of Y112.132.

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