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Investing.com - Pending home sales in the U.S. fell unexpectedly in October, raising concerns 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 decreased by a seasonally adjusted 1.1% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.9% gain. Pending home sales in September rose by 0.6%.
Year-on-year, pending home sales rose at annualized rate of 2.2% in October, compared to expectations for an increase of 2.5% and following a gain of 3.4% in September.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says despite October's modest decline, contract signings have remained at a healthy pace now for six straight months.
"In addition to low interest rates, buyers entering the market this autumn are being lured by the increase in homes for sale and less competition from investors paying in cash," he said.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.2514 from around 1.2497 ahead of the release of the data, while GBP/USD was at 1.5794 from 1.5789 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 87.65, compared to 87.75 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were mixed after the open. The Dow 30 shed 0.1%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.1%, while the Nasdaq 100 tacked on 0.1%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,198.80 a troy ounce, compared to $1,198.10 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $73.60 a barrel from $73.53 earlier.