Investing.com - Pending home sales in the U.S. rose less than expected in October, dampening optimism over the health of the housing sector, industry data showed on Monday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index inched up by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 1.5%.
Pending home sales in September fell by 1.6%, whose figure was revised from a previously reported drop of 2.3%.
Year-on-year, pending home sales rose at annualized rate of 2.1% in October, below forecasts for an increase of 4.5% and following a gain of 3.2% in the prior month.
Gains in the Northeast and West were offset by declines in the Midwest and South.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says pending sales have plateaued this fall as buyers struggle to overcome a scant number of available homes for sale and prices that are rising too fast in some markets.
"Contract signings in October made the most strides in the Northeast, which hasn't seen much of the drastic price appreciation and supply constraints that are occurring in other parts of the country," he said.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0580 from around 1.0577 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5046 from 1.5044 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 123.09 compared to 123.08 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 100.19, compared to 100.21 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were modestly lower after the open. The Dow 30 shed 0.15%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.15%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.1%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,060.90 a troy ounce, compared to $1,060.80 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $42.34 a barrel from $42.31 earlier.