Investing.com - U.S. new home sales unexpectedly skyrocketed in November, bolstering optimism over the health of the real estate sector, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said new home sales jumped by 17.5% to a seasonally adjusted 733,000 units in November from the prior month’s revised reading of 624,000 (initially 685,000).
Analysts had expected a 4.7% decline from the previous month’s initial reading to a total of 654,000 units in November.
After the report, which was released simultaneously with the revised Michigan consumer sentiment for December, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1846 from around 1.1848 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was unchanged at 1.3370, while USD/JPY traded at 113.41 compared to 113.35 before the release.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 93.00, compared to 92.99 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks were trading mixed after the open. The Dow 30 slipped 13 points or 0.05%, the S&P 500 inched up less than a point, or 0.01%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded down 8 points or 0.12%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,274.20 a troy ounce, compared to $1,274.30 ahead of the data, while U.S. crude oil changed hands at $58.05, compared to $58.08 earlier.