More better than expected data in the US: new home sales are up from 484K (revised higher) to 517K, higher than predicted. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence is up to 95.4 points, marginally better than predicted.
The US dollar reacts positively but getting overly excited. It seems to need a pause before the next move.
The CB Consumer Confidence was expected to remain unchanged at 95.2 points also for May. New home sales carried expectations for a rise from 481K to 501K (annualized) in April.
Sales of new homes trigger wider economic activity. Consumer confidence is seen as a leading indicator to spending, but the correlation isn’t always that strong.
Earlier, durable goods orders beat expectations with stronger core data and upwards revisions. The S&P Case Shiller HPI came out at 5% y/y, higher than expected, and only Markit’s Flash Services PMI fell short with 56.4 points.
