The Case Shiller House Price Index rose by 13.2% y/y. It was expected to rise by 13.3% year over year in January, continuing the positive trend from the previous year, and the double digit rise. The official FHFA HPI rose by 0.5%. It was expected to show a rise of 0.7% month over month. Both are minor misses.
The US dollar was strengthening towards the release, with EUR-USD falling off 1.38, USD/JPY ticking higher to 102.40 and GBP/USD sliding from the highs seen beforehand. The small miss does not stop the US dollar.
The C&S HPI rise for December was 13.24% and the previous figure stands at 13.38%, revised down from 13.42%. The miss and the revision are both quite marginal.
There are more important US figures later on: new home sales and the CB Consumer Confidence are set to move markets.
Further reading:Â Free-wheeling into month end
One of the reasons for the euro’s weakness has been a comment by ECB member Jozef Makúch who said that deflation risks are higher.