By CountingPips.com
Home prices in the U.S. continued to improve in October according to the Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released today. The S & P’s/Case-Shiller Index measures sales prices of existing single-family homes nationally and tracks 10-city and 20-city composite home price measurements. The report showed that the 10-city composite 
index increased by 0.4 percent in October while the 20-city composite also gained by 0.4 percent October on a seasonally adjusted basis. October marked the fifth straight month of gains in house prices.
On an annual basis, the 10-city composite fell by 6.4 percent in October from the October 2008 level while the 20-city composite is 7.3 percent lower than October 2008 level.
David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s, commented on the report saying, “The turn-around in home prices seen in the Spring and Summer has faded with only seven of the 20 cities seeing month-to-month gains, although all 20 continue to show improvements on a year-over-year basis. All in all, this report should be described as flat.”
Phoenix showed the largest monthly house price increase in October with a 1.3 percent increase while Tampa registered the largest decrease with a 1.6 percent decline. On an annual basis, Denver house prices fared the best with only a 0.1 percent decrease from October 2008 to October 2009 while LasVegas had the largest house price decrease with an annual decline of 26.6 percent.
Consumer Confidence increases in December Survey.
Consumer confidence increased for the second straight month according to a report released today by the Conference Board, which produces the Consumer Confidence Index. In a survey of 5,000 households, the index showed that consumer confidence increased by 2.3 points from 50.6 in November to standing at 52.9 in December. The Expectations index also rose in December to 75.6 from 70.3 in November while the Present Situation index declined from 21.2 in November to 18.8 in December.
The Director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center Lynn Franco talked about the newest survey saying, “Consumer Confidence posted yet another moderate gain in December as expectations for the short-term future increased to the highest level in two years (Index 75.8, Dec. 2007). The Present Situation Index, however, continued to lose ground and remains at a 26-year low (Index 17.5, Feb. 1983). A more optimistic outlook for business and labor market conditions was the driving force behind the increase in the Expectations Index. Regarding income, however, consumers remain rather pessimistic about their short-term prospects and this will likely continue to play a key role in spending decisions in early 2010.”
According to the survey, consumers saw a more negative outlook in December for the present-day conditions and for business conditions. In the short-term, consumers felt that business conditions will improve while the outlook in the labor market is also seeing improvement in the eyes of consumers.
US Dollar mixed in Forex Trading.
The US Dollar has been mixed in forex trading today against the major currencies with the American currency gaining ground against the European currencies but losing ground to the Pacific currencies. The dollar increased today versus the euro, Swiss franc, British pound and the Japanese yen while falling against the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar. The Canadian dollar made early gains versus the dollar today but has given most of those back to trade virtually unchanged later today at the end of the U.S. session at 4:35pm EST.
The US stock markets had a losing session today with the Dow falling by 1.67 points, the Nasdaq decreasing 2.68 points and the S&P 500 down by 1.59 points. Oil traded lower to $78.72 while gold lost $10.20 to trade at $1097.00 per ounce.
