One month it’s up, the next it’s down. A tumble down of 11.4% in new home sales was reported for April. The figure stands at 569K, down from an upwards revised 642K in March.
The US dollar is responding with a small drop, especially against the yen.
The US was expected to report a small drop of 1.5% in the annualized number of new home sales to 610K in April. In March, sales reached 621K before revisions. The Richmond Manufacturing Index was forecast to slip from 20 to 15 points.
The US dollar was stable before the data came out. EUR/USD slipped from the highs to trade around 1.1240. USD/JPY was hugging the 111 level while GBP/USD traded just below 1.30. The deadly bombing in Manchester is dampening the mood of traders but does not seem to affect markets.
Data overshadowed by Donald
Earlier, Markit’s flash purchasing managers’ indices for the US came out a bit mixed. The manufacturing sector PMI dropped from 52.8 to 52.5 and the services PMI jumped from 53.1 to 54. ISM’s numbers carry more weight and they are released next week ahead of the US Non-Farm Payrolls.
The bigger elephant in the room is President Donald Trump. While he continues his tour, new revelations complicate his fortunes. Last week, the market tumbled on the Comey memo. While stocks have recovered, the dollar remains on the back foot.
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