U.S. dollar weakens after mixed housing market data
Nov 28, 2023
New York [US], November 28: The U.S. dollar lost momentum in late trading on Monday, as the United States reported mixed housing market data in the day.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.16 percent to 103.2078 in late trading.
New home sales in the United States dropped 5.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 679,000 units in October, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said Monday. September's sales pace was revised lower to 719,000 units from the previously reported 759,000 units. The median sales price of new houses sold in October dropped to 409,300 U.S. dollars, down from 422,300 dollars in the prior month and down 17.6 percent from the same month last year, hitting the lowest level since August 2021.
"We expect new-home sales to soften further over the remainder of the year, but with mortgage rates recently pulling back somewhat, we don't expect the decline to be large," said Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae.
The U.S. Treasury yields moved lower on Monday as traders bet that the Fed would start cutting rates in the first half of the next year to provide additional support to the economy, which pulled down the U.S. dollar.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas on Monday, the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index declined from -19.2 in October to -19.9 in November, compared to analyst consensus of -17. The Production Index declined from 5.2 in October to -7.2 in November, while the New Orders Index decreased from -8.8 to -20.5.
In late New York trading, the euro was up to 1.0956 dollars from 1.0946 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.2631 dollars from 1.2608 dollars in the previous session.
The U.S. dollar bought 148.6250 Japanese yen, lower than 149.4800 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar decreased to 0.8802 Swiss francs from 0.8818 Swiss francs, and it increased to 1.3623 Canadian dollars from 1.3622 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar decreased to 10.4226 Swedish kronor from 10.4380 Swedish kronor.
Source: Xinhua
