Investing.com – The euro held gains against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, trading close a three-week high, after briefly trimming gains following the release of mixed U.S. economic data.
EUR/USD hit 1.4522 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s highest since July 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4485, gaining 0.76%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.4324, Monday’s low and short-term resistance at 1.4552, the high of July 5.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that U.S. new home sales fell unexpectedly in June, but a sharp increase in prices and decreased supply suggested the market for new houses was starting to stabilize.
The Commerce Department said sales fell 1.0% to a seasonally adjusted 312,000-unit annual rate. Analysts had expected the number of new home sales to rise to 320,000 units.
A separate report showed that the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell slightly more-than-expected in May, declining for the eleventh consecutive month.
Elsewhere, the Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence rose to 59.5 in June from a downwardly revised 57.6 the month before. Economists had expected a reading of 56.0.
The greenback came under broad selling pressure earlier, as talks aimed at lifting the U.S. debt ceiling remained deadlocked after U.S. President Barack Obama give no indications of a breakthrough.
Meanwhile, the euro was fractionally lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.02% to hit 0.8831.
Also Tuesday, Spain and Italy paid a higher price than a month ago to sell short-term debt, raising concerns that last week’s agreement on a second bailout package for Greece has not fully addressed the issues relating to the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis.
EUR/USD hit 1.4522 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s highest since July 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4485, gaining 0.76%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.4324, Monday’s low and short-term resistance at 1.4552, the high of July 5.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that U.S. new home sales fell unexpectedly in June, but a sharp increase in prices and decreased supply suggested the market for new houses was starting to stabilize.
The Commerce Department said sales fell 1.0% to a seasonally adjusted 312,000-unit annual rate. Analysts had expected the number of new home sales to rise to 320,000 units.
A separate report showed that the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell slightly more-than-expected in May, declining for the eleventh consecutive month.
Elsewhere, the Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence rose to 59.5 in June from a downwardly revised 57.6 the month before. Economists had expected a reading of 56.0.
The greenback came under broad selling pressure earlier, as talks aimed at lifting the U.S. debt ceiling remained deadlocked after U.S. President Barack Obama give no indications of a breakthrough.
Meanwhile, the euro was fractionally lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.02% to hit 0.8831.
Also Tuesday, Spain and Italy paid a higher price than a month ago to sell short-term debt, raising concerns that last week’s agreement on a second bailout package for Greece has not fully addressed the issues relating to the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis.