The New Home Sales figure in the US has dropped significantly, to only 331K, much lower than 395K that was expected. This is a terrible figure that shows that the American economy has almost come to a halt. A stimulus plan is necessary, now more than ever.
In the immediate trading after the release, the dollar weakened a little bit, especially against the Swiss Franc and the Japanese Yen.
A further decline can be seen later.
Before the release of the New Home Sales, figure the dollar was trading in a mixed manner against the major currencies. EUR/USD was in the low 1.31s’, GBP/USD was in the mid 1.42s’, USD/CHF was in the high 1.14s and USD/JPY a little under 90.
Earlier today, Core Durable Goods Orders fell by 3.6%, much worse than -2.6% that was expected. Also the non core Durable Goods Orders were disappointing, and fell by 2.6%, deeper than 1.9%.
The Unemployment Claims were almost within expectations, at 588,000. But, this figure is a record number of jobless claims, and was quoted across the board.