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Investing.com - The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose less than expected in April, dampening optimism over the housing sector, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index rose at an annualized rate of 10.8% in April from a year earlier, below forecasts for a gain of 11.6% and following a rise of 12.4% in March.
Month-on-month, U.S. home prices climbed by a seasonally adjusted 1.1%, above expectations for a 0.8% gain and following an increase of 0.9% in the preceding month.
“Although home prices rose in April, the annual gains weakened,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.11% to trade at 1.3618.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed open. The Dow pointed to a loss of 0.15%, the S&P 500 indicated a decline of 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 signaled an increase of 0.1%.