Investing.com - U.S. existing home sales rose more than expected in June to hit an eight-month high, easing concerns over the health of the housing market, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales increased 2.6% to a seasonally adjusted 5.04 million units last month from 4.91 million in May.
Analysts had expected existing home sales to rise 2% to 4.97 million units in June.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said housing fundamentals are moving in the right direction. “Inventories are at their highest level in over a year and price gains have slowed to much more welcoming levels in many parts of the country,” he said.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar added to gains against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.42% to trade at 1.3467, compared to 1.3472 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were higher after the open. The Dow inched up 0.3%, the S&P 500 tacked on 0.5%, while the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.6%.