US Pending Homes Sales decline in November. US Dollar gains versus Euro, Yen in Fx Trade. | CountingPips Forex Blog

January 6, 2009 - Forex Economic News

US Pending Homes Sales decline in November. US Dollar gains versus Euro, Yen in Fx Trade.

U.S. Pending Homes sales declined in the month of November to drop to its lowest level on record according to the monthly report released by the National Association of Realtors(NAR) today. The NAR report showed that pending home sales contracts signed by buyers declined USD gains vs. Yen, Euro in Fx Trade 4.0 percent in November following October's revised 4.2 percent decline. November's decline brought the pending sales level to the lowest point on record since the NAR report began in 2001.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun commented on this month's report saying, "Mounting job losses and very weak consumer confidence deterred home buyers from signing contracts in November,” and that, “December’s housing market activity could be comparably lower due to ongoing problems in the economy, so a real estate-focused stimulus plan is urgently needed."

November's sales decline surpassed market forecasts expecting only a 1.0 percent fall for the month. On an annual basis, pending home sales were 5.3 percent below the November 2007 level. Pending home sales in the Northeast fell by 7.2 percent in November while the Midwest saw a decline by 6.7 percent. The South and the West saw lesser declines in November with decreases of 2.2 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. On an annual basis, the West is the only area with a positive pending home sales rate with an increase of 19.3 percent over the November 2007 level. The Northeast, Midwest and South pending home sales have all fallen by over 10 percent from a year ago.

ISM Non-manufacturing Business report contracts for 3rd month in a row.

U.S. non-manufacturing business activity contracted in December for the third straight month according to a report released today by the Institute for Supply Management. The December Non-manufacturing Index(NMI) registered a score of 40.6 percent following a contracting 37.3 percent score in November. A score below 50 percent is considered to be contracting or declining in that sector. The NMI equally weights the index scores of business activity, new orders, supplier deliveries and employment. December's score, despite the contracting level, surpassed market forecasts that were expecting the NMI to decrease to a 36.5 percent level.

The business activity index score for December increased by 6.6 percent to 39.6 percent but also marked a contracting level for the third straight month. New orders also increased in December but were still at contracting levels as new orders increased by 4.5 percent to the 39.9 percent level. The Employment index increased by 3.4 percentage points to a 34.7 percent score for December while supplier deliveries fell by 1.5 percent to a 48.0 percent score for the month. Other index scores from the report showed that inventories, backlog of orders and inventory sentiment all increased in December while prices and imports fell for the month.

US Dollar gains against Euro, Yen in Fx Trading.

The US dollar has been gaining today in forex market against the euro and Japanese yen for the second straight day. The American currency has also increased today versus the Swiss franc while falling against the other major currencies.

The euro has decreased against the dollar as the EUR/USD has declined from today's opening exchange rate of 1.3556 at 00:00GMT to trading at 1.3483 in the afternoon of the US trading session at 1:06pm EST. The dollar has increased versus the yen as the USD/JPY today has gained from its 93.08 opening rate to trading at 93.94. The dollar has also advanced against the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF has gained to trading at 1.1197 after opening at 1.1114.

Elsewhere, the British pound has advanced versus the dollar for a second straight day as the GBP/USD trades at 1.4924 after opening the day at 1.4629. The US dollar has also fallen against the Canadian dollar for a second day as the USD/CAD has tumbled to trading at 1.1823 from its opening of 1.1940. The Australian and New Zealand dollars have advanced versus the American buck to trade at the exchange rates of 0.7207 and 0.5948, respectively.

USD/CHF Chart - The US Dollar gaining today against the Swiss Franc and on an upward trend since late December. (4 Hour Chart).

Today's Forex Chart

tags: ism business, pending home sales, real estate, USD, FX Trade

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