By CountingPips.com
U.S. existing-homes sales data rebounded in March after three straight months of decline, according to the monthly report produced by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The NAR report showed that existing-home sales including single family homes, co-ops and townhouses rose by 6.8 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million units. February’s existing-homes sales data had decreased by a revised 0.8 percent to a 5.05 million home rate.
On an annual basis, March’s existing-home sales increased by 16.1 percent over the March 2009 level. Market forecasters had predicted the sales data would rise by 5.3 percent in March to a 5.29 million unit sales pace.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun commented in the report about the rebound in sales figures, “Sales have been above year-ago levels for nine straight months, and inventory has trended down from year-ago levels for 20 months running,” he said. “The home buyer tax credit has been a resounding success as these underlying trends point to a broad stabilization in home prices. This is preserving perhaps $1 trillion in largely middle class housing wealth that may have been wiped out without the housing stimulus measure.”
Sales in the Northeast increased by 6.0 percent in March while the Midwest sales rose by 7.2 percent. The West saw its existing-home sales rise by 6.6 percent and sales gained by 7.1 percent in the South. On an annual basis, the Northeast leads the increases above the March 2009 level with an increase of 25.4 percent with the South (13.9%), West (14.0%) and Midwest (15.5%) all showing rises on an annual basis.
Weekly Jobless Claims fall
U.S. weekly jobless claims decreased in the week that ended on April 17th, according to a release by the U.S. Labor Department today. New jobless claims fell by 24,000 workers to a total of 456,000 unemployed workers. The 4-week moving average of unemployed workers increased by 2,750 workers from the previous week to a total of 460,250.
Market forecasts were expecting jobless claims to fall to 450,000 workers following the prior week’s 480,000 claims.
Meanwhile, workers seeking continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending April 10th also decreased for the week. Continuing claims fell by 40,000 workers to a total of 4,646,000 unemployed workers. The 4-week moving average of continuing claims dropped by 5,500 workers to a total of 4,643,750.
Producer Prices gain more than expected
The Producer Price Index, released in a separate report by the Department of Labor, rose more than expected in March as food and energy costs increased and boosted inflation on finished goods. Producer prices increased by 0.7 percent in March following a decrease of 0.6 percent in February and an increase by 1.4 percent in January. The annual rate of increase for March showed that producer prices were 6.0 percent higher than March of 2009 after February’s annual rate registered a 4.4 percent increase.
Market forecasts were expecting monthly producer prices to gain by 0.5 percent and the annual rate of increase to register 6.0 percent.
Core producer prices, excluding food and energy prices, rose by 0.1 percent in March following a 0.1 percent rise in February and matched market expectations of a 0.1 percent gain. On an annual basis, core producer prices advanced by 0.9 percent in March compared with an increase of 1.0 percent in February and matched expectations.
Helping to contribute to the increased producer prices in March was the cost of consumer foods which advanced by 2.4 percent for the month while the index for finished energy goods rose by 0.7 percent.
FOREX: US Dollar higher versus Euro, Majors. US Stocks lower
The U.S. dollar has been on the rise in the forex markets today while U.S. stocks have traded lower as investor risk has fallen to the wayside in the U.S. trading session today. The dollar has increased higher today versus the euro, Swiss franc, British pound, Japanese yen and the Canadian dollar while falling to the New Zealand dollar and trading almost unchanged against the Australian dollar, according to currency data by Oanda at 2:16 pm EST.
The Greece situation put risk aversion in the markets as Moody’s downgraded Greece’s sovereign debt (from A3 to A2) and it was also released that Greece’s budget deficit of last year was higher than previously estimated. The Greece budget deficit of 2009 is now estimated to be 13.6 percent of GDP compared with the previous estimate of 12.7 percent of GDP. The latest news sent the euro sharply lower against the dollar, touching its lowest level in almost a full year at the 1.3260 exchange rate.
The U.S. stock markets, meanwhile, have had a negative trading session today with the Dow Jones falling by over 25 points, the Nasdaq decreasing over 1 point and the S&P 500 showing over a 3 point shortfall. Oil has edged lower to the $83.45 per barrel level while gold has been lower by $5.70 to the $1,142.50 per ounce level.