ReturnThe U.S. Commerce Department reported that new homes sales rose by 11 percent in June to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 384,000 units. It was the largest increase in eight years.
New home sales in June rose in the Northwest, Midwest and West, but declined in the South. The number of unsold new homes fell by the 26th consecutive month to 281,000. The inventory yardstick, the supply of new homes at current rates, fell from 10.2 months to 8.8 months.
A three-month moving average shows that new home sales appeared to have hit a bottom in January, and are starting to grow ever so slightly, said analysts of Global Insight.
It is unknown that how much of the increase in sales is coming from a government tax credit for new homeowners. Home sales and housing starts numbers may level off for a while when the tax credit expired on November 30.
Currency investors are watching closely at the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue which opened in Washington on Monday. They are also looking for trading clues from the upcoming U.S. GDP data and auctions of Treasury debt.
The euro bought 1.4243 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4216 dollars it bought late Friday. The pound rose to 1.6498 dollars from 1.6432 dollars.
The dollar fell to 1.0804 Canadian dollars from 1.0839 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.0698 Swiss francs from 1.0701 Swiss francs. It rose to 95.24 Japanese yen from 94.73 Japanese yen.
Source:www.xinhuanet.com
