By CountingPips.com
Economic news out of the US today showed that new orders for durable goods increased by less than expected while new home sales fell to the lowest level on record in the month of July. New orders for durable goods, products manufactured in the U.S. and considered to last more than three years, edged higher by 0.3 percent in July to a total of $193.0 billion. This follows a 0.1 percent decrease in orders for June, according to the data released by the U.S. Commerce Department. July’s advance reverses two consecutive months of decreases in May and June.
Market forecasts had been expecting that durable goods orders would advance by approximately 3.0 percent for the month.
New orders for durable goods, excluding transportation, decreased unexpectedly by 3.8 percent in July following an increase of 0.2 percent in June. This data was worse than the market forecasts which were predicting an increase of 0.5 percent for durables minus transportation.
New Home Sales decline to a new low
New Home Sales in the United States decreased more than expected and registered a new record low level, according to a separate report released by the Department of Commerce today. Purchases of new single family homes fell by 12.4 percent in July to an annual rate of 276,000 new homes sold. The July data brings new home sales to the lowest level on record since the government started keeping records in 1963.
Market forecasters were expecting no change in the monthly sales level for an annual rate of 330,000 new homes sold following a 12.1 percent increase in June. On an annual basis, July’s rate of new homes sold was 32.4 percent lower than the July 2009 sales level.
Leading the decrease in July was a 25.4 percent drop in new homes sold in the the West while the Northeast registered a 13.9 percent decline in sales. Sales in the South fell by 8.7 percent while the Midwest saw a decrease by 8.3 percent from June to July. On an annual basis, all four regions had declines of more than 20 percent from the July 2009 period with the West showing the largest decrease by 54.6 percent over that time.
FOREX: US Dollar is mixed in foreign exchange trading
The U.S. dollar has been trading mixed in the forex markets against the other major currencies following the US economic releases today. The dollar has advanced today versus the Japanese yen and the New Zealand dollar while trading lower against the euro and the British pound sterling. The Swiss franc, Australian dollar and Canadian dollar are all trading close to unchanged against the American currency near the end of the US trading session.
The U.S. stock markets, meanwhile, ended on a positive note today with the Dow Jones increasing by approximately 19.61 points, the Nasdaq rising by 17.78 points and the S&P 500 up by 3.46 points. Oil increased by $1.10 to $72.73 while gold advanced by $8.40 to trade at the the $1240.10 per ounce level.
Tomorrow’s economic schedule includes the Australian conference Board leading index, the Switzerland employment level for the second quarter and the US weekly initial jobless claims.