U.S. Home Sales Fall, USD Posts Solid Gains
It has been a strong day for the Greenback. Values are up across the majors, with the EUR/USD (-0.19%), GBP/USD (-0.66%), and USD/JPY (+0.09%) all trading in favor of the dollar. The bullish price action comes on the heels of this morning’s decent employment and negative home sales reports.
Although there weren’t any primary market movers released during the pre-market hours, a few interesting items were. Here’s a look at the key data points:
Event Actual Projected Previous
Continuing Jobless Claims 3,674K 3,667K 3,708K
Initial Jobless Claims 547K 617K 586K
Existing Home Sales (March) 6.01M 6.19M 6.24M
Existing Home Sales (MoM, March) -3.7% 0.9% -6.3%
The weekly jobless reports have lost much of their luster as traders are used to seeing large numbers. However, both Continuing and Initial Jobless Claims are down from last Thursday’s figures. So, these items aren’t of grave importance and the U.S. labor market continues to improve.
On the other hand, Existing Home Sales for March were off 3.7% from February. This is interesting because the lending environment remains accommodative. However, the American real estate market has reached an inflection point. Home sales have been at or near record highs for more than a year. At this point, housing supplies are extremely low, thus directly impacting sales. Right now, there are still home buyers — just no homes to buy.
Home Sales Down, USD Up
One of today’s big forex movers and shakers has been the EUR/USD. Rates are firmly on the bear, down 0.19% on the session.
Overview: As move toward the final trading week of April, the short-term bullish trend in the EUR/USD remains valid. For the near future, I’ll be watching April’s 38% retracement (1.1939) with interest. If we see a pullback to this point from current levels, a buying opportunity may set up by early next week.
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