609K is a beat over expectations of 600K. US new home sales dropped by 7.6%, better than a fall of 8.6% expected and from higher ground: 659K is the revised figure for July, which is the largest in 9 years. The positive number and the confirmation come against weaker than predicted existing home sales and building permits.
There is no significant immediate reaction from currencies.
Sales of new homes were expected to drop to an annualized level of 600K in August from 654K in July, which was a big leap at the time (12.4%). A downwards revision was not ruled out, as a similar move happened earlier in the year.
The US dollar was generally weaker in the wake of the last week of September. This coincides with a rise in oil prices, on hopes that the Algiers gathering will produce a deal on production freeze.
EUR/USD traded around 1.1250, USD/JPY at 100.40 and GBP/USD at 1.2940. The pound was hit by “Hard Brexit” talk. Commodity currencies were generally higher, with USD/CAD at 1.3170, AUD/USD 0.7640 and NZD/USD trading around 0.7270.
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