By CountingPips.com
The U.S. dollar resumed its increase against the euro today in trading while showing mixed results versus the other majors currencies in the forex markets. The dollar has gained ground today versus the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Swiss franc and the New Zealand dollar while trading lower against the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar, according to currency data by Oanda late in the afternoon of the U.S. session.
The euro’s comeback at the end of last week against the dollar was dashed today when the currency resumed its downtrend and fell under the 1.2400 exchange rate level. The euro had finished the week higher versus the dollar last week and rose for three straight days to close on Friday above the 1.2570 level. Today’s decline in the EUR/USD reached to under 1.2350, finding support around the 1.2340 exchange rate.
The US stock markets, meanwhile, experienced a late decline and traded lower today with the Dow Jones declining by 126 points, the Nasdaq decreasing over 15 points and the S&P 500 down by 14 points. Oil traded virtually unchanged to level at $70.09 per barrel while gold gained by $16.60 to trade at the $1,187.30 per ounce level.
EUR/USD 1-Hour Chart – The Euro declining today against the US dollar in the forex markets after ending last week on a positive note above 1.2570. The EUR/USD fell through the upward trendline on the hourly chart and declined under the 200-hour simple moving average (red line). The pair currently trades aright around the 1.2350 level.
Existing-Home Sales advance over 7 percent in April
Today’s economic news showed that U.S. existing-homes sales data rose more than expected for the month of April, 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 advanced by 7.6 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million units. On an annual basis, the April existing-home sales level was higher by 22.8 percent from the April 2009 level.
Market forecasters were predicting the sales data would rise by 5.6 percent to reach a 5.65 million unit sales pace. March’s existing-homes sales had increased by a revised 7.0 percent to a 5.36 million home rate. The median sales price for existing homes was $173,100 in April while total housing inventory increased by 11.5 percent to a total of 4.04 million homes on the market for the month.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun commented in the report about the sales figures saying, “The upswing in April existing-home sales was expected because of the tax credit inducement, and no doubt there will be some temporary fallback in the months immediately after it expires, but other factors also are supporting the market.”
