US Dollar Drops with Lower House Prices & Slower Manufacturing

The US dollar weakened today after the report showed that house prices declined and manufacturing slowed in the US, reducing optimism for the nation’s economy.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index posted the 1.6 percent year-over-year decline in November. The index dropped 0.8 percent in the month before and was expected to decline 1.4 percent in November. The manufacturing activity expanded for the fourth straight month, but pace of the growth slowed. The Richmond Manufacturing Activity Index was predicted to go down from 25 to 23 this month, but the actual value was even lower — 18.

Even with the unfavorable economic data the consumer confidence managed to rise from 53.3 to 60.6 in December. The analysts predicted a much smaller increase to just 54.4.

EUR/USD advanced today from 1.3637 to 1.3685 as of 23:59 GMT after it earlier reached the intraday low of 1.3573. USD/JPY opened at 82.52, dropped as low as 81.97 and later traded near 82.24.

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