Article by ForexTime
The US dollar received a boost on Tuesday after surprisingly strong new home sales data for February and an upward revision to the prior month. Tuesday’s data showed bad weather didn’t appear to hold back buyers last month.
The number of newly built homes that were sold last month surpassed forecasts by analysts who had projected a 4 percent drop from January. Instead sales saw an 8 percent increase to a seven year high and a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 539,000 units last month, the highest level since February 2008. Sales are 25 percent higher than a year ago.
Separate data showed US consumer prices rebounded in February as gasoline prices rose for the first time since June. According to data released by the US Labor Department, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent last month after slipping 0.7 percent in January, ending three straight months of declines in the index. On a year-on-year basis, CPI index unchanged after falling 0.1 percent in January.
The dollar rallied on Tuesday after the data, to hit a high of 119.99 yen.
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