Investing.com - U.S. new home sales unexpectedly tumbled in July, causing concern over the health of the real estate market, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said new home sales fell by 9.4% to a seasonally adjusted 571,000 units in July from the prior month’s revised reading of 630,000 (initially 610,000).
Analysts had expected a 0.3% increase from the previous month’s initial reading to a total of 612,000 units in July.
After the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1805 from around 1.1796 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.2797 from 1.2794 earlier, while USD/JPY traded at 109.09 compared to 109.18 before the release.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 93.17, compared to 93.25 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks were trading lower after the open. The Dow 30 fell 70 points or 0.32%, the S&P 500 lost 7 points, or 0.28%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded down 17 points or 0.27%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,293.90 a troy ounce, compared to $1,292.72 ahead of the data, while U.S. crude oil changed hands at $47.81, compared to $47.77 earlier.