Investing.com – The dollar fell against a basket of global currencies despite upbeat housing data on Friday easing worries about a slowdown in the housing market while investors awaited a flurry of comments from Fed officials.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.31% to 96.96
New home sales, which make up about 10% of all U.S. home sales, increased 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 610,000 units last month, The Commerce Department said on Friday. April's sales pace was also revised sharply higher to 593,000 units from 569,000 units.
Analysts had forecast U.S. existing home sales rising 5.4% to a pace of 597,000 units last month.
The dollar struggled, however, to pair losses as investors shifted attention to monetary policy with several Federal Reserve officials slated for a public appearance.
Earlier during the session, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that the Fed can afford to stop raising short-term interest rates and wait and see how the economy develops.
Speeches from FOMC Members Loretta Mester and Jorome Powell are slated for later in the session.
The euro and sterling were the main beneficiaries of the slump in the greenback.
GBP/USD rose by 0.37% to $1.2729, as investor optimism grew that the Bank of England could raise rates soon in the wake of comments from BoE chief Andy Haldane earlier in the week suggesting that UK central bank should consider raising rates.
EUR/USD tacked on 0.39% to $1.1195, while EUR/GBP added 0.05% to $0.8797.
USD/CAD traded at C$1.3265, up 0.23%, as oil prices remained on track to end the week in negative weighing on the oil-linked Canadian dollar.
The dollar traded roughly flat against its Japanese counterpart, with USD/JPY at Y111.30.