Investing.com - Pending home sales in the U.S. tumbled unexpectedly in December, fuelling concerns over the housing sector, industry data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index dropped by a seasonally adjusted 8.7% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.3% gain. Pending home sales for November were revised down to a 0.3% decline from a previously reported gain of 0.2%.
Year-on-year, pending home sales fell at annualized rate of 6.1% in December, significantly worse than expectations for a 0.3% decline, after declining 4.4% in November.
Following the release of the data, the euro trimmed losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.6% to trade at 1.3582, compared to 1.3572 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets were higher after the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.35%, the S&P 500 index advanced 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rallied 1.3%.