By CountingPips.com
U.S. Pending Homes sales edged up in the month of December following a deep decline in November 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 rose by 1.0 percent in December following November’s 16.4 percent decrease. On an annual basis, pending home sales were 10.9 percent above the December 2008 sales level. December’s sales rise 
matched the market forecasts that were expecting an approximate 1.0 percent increase.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun commented on recent pending home sales levels saying, “There are easily understood swings in contract activity as buyers respond to a tax credit that was expiring and was then extended and expanded,” he said. “These swings are masking the underlying trend, which is a broad improvement over year-ago levels. December activity was the fifth highest monthly tally in two years.”
Pending home sales in the Northeast increased by 2.3 percent in December while the Midwest saw an increase by 5.2 percent and sales in the South advanced by 2.2 percent. Sales in the West decreased by 3.8 percent for the month.
On an annual basis, all four areas were above the December 2008 sales level with the Northeast showing an annual gain of 14.9 percent, the Midwest showing a 8.7 percent annual rise, the South showing a 5.5 percent increase and the West showing a 18.6 percent annual advancement.
US Dollar trades lower in forex trading, Stocks rise
The US Dollar has been trading lower versus most of the major currencies today as the U.S. stock markets have advanced. The USD has been declining versus the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc and the New Zealand dollar as of 1:24 pm EST in the U.S. session. The American currency has held gains made versus the Australian dollar which declined sharply after the Reserve Bank of Australia surprised the markets and held its interest rate steady earlier today.
The US stock markets, meanwhile, have traded higher today with the Dow Jones advancing by over 80 points, the Nasdaq increasing over 10 points and the S&P 500 up by close to 10 points at the time of writing. Oil has climbed higher by $2.41 to trade at $76.84 while gold has gained by $12.20 to trade at the $1,116.50 per ounce level.
USD/CAD 4-Hour Chart – The US Dollar is losing ground today versus the Canadian Dollar by approximately 30 pips in forex trading. The USD/CAD pair has fallen below the 1.0600 level today as this pair has broken out to the downside of the rising price channel on the 4-hour chart that gained steam on January 19th. The uptrend culminated with a high of 1.0721 in yesterday’s trading and marked its highest level since December 17th.
