US New Homes sales rise unexpectedly in September. Dollar, yen start week off strong in forex trading. | CountingPips Forex Blog

October 27, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US New Homes sales rise unexpectedly in September. Dollar, yen start week off strong in forex trading.

New Home Sales in the United States increased more than expected in the month of September according to data released by the Department of Commerce today. New home sales advanced by 2.7 percent in September to an annual rate of 464,000 new homes sold after sales had fallen by a revised 12.6 percent in August. On an annual basis, September USD, JPY gain in Forex Trade new home sales are still below the September 2007 level by 33.1 percent. The increase in new homes sales for September surpassed market forecasts which were expecting a decline of approximately 2.2 percent for the month to an annual rate of 455,000 new homes sold.

The median price of new homes sold registered $218,400 for September while the average sales price measured $275,500. August's median new home sales price was $220,400 and average sales price was $264,100. The median sales price of new homes in September 2007 registered $240,300 while the average sales price leveled at $292,200.

Contributing heavily to the increased sales numbers was a 22.7 percent jump in new home sales in the western part of the country while sales in the south increased by 0.7 percent. Contributing negative to the data was a fall of new home sales in the northeast by 21.4 percent and a fall by 5.8 percent in the midwest.

Forex Market - Dollar, Yen start the trading week off strong.

The U.S. dollar and Japanese yen have started the week off advancing against most of the other major currencies in forex trading in a continuation of last week. The opening of trading on Sunday saw the dollar and yen quickly making gains against most currencies before starting to retreat as the Monday trading day progresses. The European euro has fallen to its lowest point since October 2006 against the dollar as the EUR/USD trades below 1.2600 and to its lowest point since 2002 against the yen as the EUR/JPY trades below 118.00.

The British pound, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar have also started the week lower against the dynamic duo of the dollar and yen. Meanwhile, the Swiss franc, after falling last week to the dollar and yen, has started the week stronger as the Swiss currency has advanced against both. The dollar, despite its strength and gains against most currencies, is also falling victim to the Japanese yen as the USD/JPY trades at 93.59 yen per dollar today. The USD/JPY currency pair, which touched under 91.00 Friday, has not been at this low a level since 1995.

This week will be an interesting and important one for forex trading as there are a number of market moving new releases coming out of the U.S. On Tuesday, U.S. consumer confidence and the S&P/Case-Shiller house price index are released. On Wednesday, the US Fed announces its latest interest rate decision with market forecasts predicting a rate cut of 50 basis points to 1.00 percent and on Thursday the US Gross Domestic Product data for the 3rd quarter is announced. Market forecasts are expecting the US GDP to contract by approximately 0.5 percent.

USD/JPY Chart - The US Dollar trading against the Japanese yen at levels not seen since 1995(Daily Chart).

Today's Forex Chart

tags: new home sales, forex market, economic releases

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