Forexpros – The dollar firmed against major currencies Friday on news that the U.S. housing and manufacturing sectors were showing signs of moving on from their post-recession doldrums.
In the U.S., new-home sales hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000 in November, up 1.6% above October’s revised rate of 310,000 and up 9.8% above 287,000 in November of last year.
Analysts had expected new home sales to rise to 313,000 last month.
Friday’s figures come in wake of dipping initial jobless claims data and rising overall economic growth rates, all of which are fueling hopes the U.S. economy will pick up its pace of recovery next year despite ongoing debt concerns in Europe.
The Commerce Department reported that orders to U.S. factories for durable goods rose 3.8% in November from October but core durable goods, which are stripped of volatile transportation items, came to 0.3%, below forecasts.
The indicators prompted investors worldwide to buy greenbacks to invest in dollar-denominated assets, although not all the news was bullish.
The Commerce Department also said that consumer spending rose 0.1% in November while personal incomes rose 0.1% as well, figures that both fell short of economists’ expectations.
On Friday, EUR/USD was down 0.05% at 1.3045.
The greenback was also stronger against the pound, with Cable falling 0.54% to hit 1.5593.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down 0.12% against the yen, with USD/JPY was trading at 78.07, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF ending up 0.09% at 0.9369.
The greenback finished down against its counterparts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.06% at 1.0199, AUD/USD up 0.20% to 1.0151 and NZD/USD up 0.05% to hit 0.7744.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, rose 0.05% at 80.32.
On Monday, New Zealand will release trade balance figures while the Bank of Japan may release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting.
&nb
Forexpros
