Forexpros – The euro edged higher against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, after a report showed that U.S. existing home sales declined more-than-forecast in February, indicating that the housing sector is still taking time to stabilize.
EUR/USD pulled away from 1.3213, the session low, to hit 1.3243 during U.S. morning trade, rising 0.15%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3171, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.3331, the high of March 2.
The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales dipped by 0.9% to a seasonally adjusted 4.59 million units in February, compared to expectations for a decline to 4.61 million units.
The figure is 8.8% higher than the 4.22 million-unit level in February 2011.
Existing home sales in January was revised down by nearly 1.5% to 4.63 million units from a previously reported 4.57 million.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said underlying factors are much better compared to one year ago.
“The market is trending up unevenly, with record high consumer buying power and sustained job gains giving buyers the confidence they need to get into the market,” he said.
In Greece, former Deputy Finance Minister Filippos Sachinidis was sworn in as the country’s new finance minister.
On Tuesday, Greece repaid EUR14.5 billion in maturing debt, just one day after receiving the first tranche of aid, under the terms of its second bailout.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP adding 0.22% to hit 0.8354.
Also Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were to discuss the lessons from the debt crisis in the euro zone before the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, in Washington.
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