Investing.com - Pending home sales in the U.S. rose significantly more than expected in February, easing concerns 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 increased by a seasonally adjusted 3.1% last month, easily surpassing expectations for a 0.4% gain.
Pending home sales in January rose by 1.2%, whose figure was revised down from a previously reported gain of 1.7%.
Year-on-year, pending home sales rose at annualized rate of 12.0% in February, above forecasts for an increase of 8.7% and following a gain of 6.5% in January.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says demand appears to be strengthening as we head into the spring buying season.
“Pending sales showed solid gains last month, driven by a steadily-improving labor market, mortgage rates hovering around 4% and the likelihood of more renters looking to hedge against increasing rents,” he said.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0825 from around 1.0833 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4777 from 1.4789 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 120.00 from 119.92 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 98.21, compared to 98.17 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were higher after the open. The Dow 30 rallied 1.55%, the S&P 500 jumped 1.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.15%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,185.20 a troy ounce, compared to $1,185.40 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $48.39 a barrel from $48.70 earlier.