Investing.com - Pending home sales in the U.S. fell unexpectedly in November, dampening optimism over the health of the housing sector, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index inched down by a seasonally adjusted 0.9% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.5%. Pending home sales in October rose by 0.4%, whose figure was revised from a previously reported gain of 0.2%.
Pending home sales in November slightly declined for the third time in four months as buyers continue to battle both rising home prices and limited homes available for sale.
Year-on-year, pending home sales rose at annualized rate of 5.1% in November, above forecasts for an increase of 4.0% and following a gain of 2.3% in the prior month.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says November's dip in contract activity continues the modestly slowing trend seen ever since pending sales peaked to an over nine year high back in May
"Home prices rising too sharply in several markets, mixed signs of an economy losing momentum and waning supply levels have acted as headwinds in recent months despite low mortgage rates and solid job gains," he said.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0918 from around 1.0924 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4830 from 1.4838 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 120.59 compared to 120.60 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 98.42, compared to 98.37 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were modestly lower after the open. The Dow 30 shed 0.25%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.4%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,059.70 a troy ounce, compared to $1,060.10 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $36.86 a barrel from $36.83 earlier.