Investing.com - Pending home sales in the U.S. rose significantly more than expected in March, easing concerns over the housing sector, industry data showed on Monday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index jumped by a seasonally adjusted 3.4% last month, easily surpassing expectations for a 1% gain.
Pending home sales for February were revised to a 0.5% drop from a previously reported decline of 0.8%.
Year-on-year, pending home sales fell at annualized rate of 7.4% in March, better than expectations for a 10.3% decline.
Following the release of the data, the euro held on to gains against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD rising 0.23% to trade at 1.3866.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets were higher after the open. The Dow Jones Composite rose 0.55%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.35%, while the NASDAQ Composite inched up 0.5%.