Investing.com - Pending home sales in the U.S. bounced back in February from the prior month’s decline, reaching a seven-month high and bolstering optimism over the health of the housing sector, industry data showed on Monday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index rose by a seasonally adjusted 3.5% last month, compared to expectations for a gain of 1.0%. Pending home sales in January fell by 3.0%, whose figure was revised up from a previously reported decline of 2.5%.
Year-on-year, pending home sales rose at annualized rate of 0.7%, following a gain of 1.4% in the prior month.
NAR noted that the increase was led by a “sizeable increase” in the Midwest, though all major regions except for the Northeast saw an increase in contract activity.
"After some volatility this winter, the latest data is encouraging in that a decent number of buyers signed contracts last month, lured by mortgage rates dipping to their lowest levels in nearly a year and a modest, seasonal uptick in inventory,” Larry Yun, NAR chief economist, said.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1198 from around 1.1204 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4255 from 1.4263 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 113.31 from 113.23 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 95.95, compared to 95.89 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets traded flat and mixed after the open. The Dow 30 inched up 0.04%, the S&P 500 shed 0.02%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.13%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,222.20 a troy ounce, compared to $1,222.40 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $39.17 a barrel from $39.30 earlier.