Investing.com - The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose at the slowest pace in 18 months in June, dampening optimism over the housing sector, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index rose at an annualized rate of 8.1% in June from a year earlier, below forecasts for a gain of 8.4% and following a rise of 9.3% in May.
Month-on-month, U.S. home prices climbed by a seasonally adjusted 1%, in line with forecasts and following an increase of 1.2% in the preceding month.
“Home price gains continue to ease as they have since last fall,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.09% to trade at 1.3203.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow 30 pointed to a gain of 0.15%, the S&P 500 indicated an increase of 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 signaled a rise of 0.2%.