Economic Data Releases for U.S, Greenback Weakens - 24.4.2012

New Home Sales data for U.S released today were better than expected however lower than the previous figure. 328,000 new homes were sold during March while on February were sold 353,000 new homes. Earlier the S&P/Case Schiller composite index which is an index of home prices gained 0.4 per cent compared to the previous figure, giving encouraging signs of stabilization.

Consumer Confidence in U.S was little changed in April, it was announced at the 69.2 level falling 0.3 points compared to a revised 69.5 in March. The smallest drop in unemployment for the last 6-months at the beginning of April, may have raised some concerns about the recovery that more jobs will be needed to boost consumer spending.

In the last hour the greenback has been losing ground versus its major peers. The single currency against the US dollar rose to 1.3217, testing the monthly upper limit at the 1.3222. The USD versus the Swiss franc dropped to the 0.9099 and against the Canadian the greenback is testing again today the 0.9885, after it bounced up at the 0.9917.