New Home Sales Plunge to Record Low
The Japanese yen relinquished some of its recent strength versus the greenback in the Wednesday session, shedding almost 1%. Meanwhile, the major currencies were marginally higher against the dollar, with the British pound edging up by 0.35%. US equities also recouped from earlier losses, finishing slightly higher as the Dow Jones recovered above the 10k-level. Crude oil also climbed higher, stemming its steep losses in recent weeks to trade higher by 1.7% to $72.83-per barrel while spot gold firmed by 0.8% to settle at $1,240-per ounce.
Data continues to reflect further deterioration in the US housing market, adding to the recent string of dismal economic reports and raising fears for a double-dip recession. The July new home sales report sharply missed consensus estimates for a flat reading, instead plunging by 12.4% to a record low at 276k units compared with a downwardly revised 12.1% reading from June at 315k units. The home price indexes were mixed with the Q2 home purchase price index increasing by 0.9% and beating estimates for a decline of 0.4% from a 2.1% drop in the previous quarter. On a monthly basis, the home price index declined by 0.3% versus a 0.5% increase previously. Durable goods orders were also softer than anticipated, with the headline index improving by 0.3% and missing calls for a 3.0% increase while the excluding transportations index printed sharply weekly, down 3.8% versus a marginal 0.2% increase previously.
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