Investing.com - U.S. existing home sales rose more than expected in May to hit the highest level since 2009, boosting optimism over the health of the economy and supporting the case for a U.S. interest rate hike this year, industry data showed on Monday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales increased 5.1% to a seasonally adjusted 5.35 million units last month from 5.09 million in April. Analysts had expected existing home sales to rise 4.4% to 5.26 million units in May.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says May home sales rebounded strongly following April's decline and are now at their highest pace since November 2009.
"Solid sales gains were seen throughout the country in May as more homeowners listed their home for sale and therefore provided greater choices for buyers," he said.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1363 from around 1.1369 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5827 from 1.5833 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 123.20 from 123.12 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.34, compared to 94.31 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were higher after the open. The Dow 30 inched up 0.65%, the S&P 500 rose 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,185.40 a troy ounce, compared to $1,185.70 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $59.77 a barrel from $59.67 earlier.