New home sales retrench in May

Wells Fargo Research Team Wells Fargo

Summary

New home sales fall back as buying conditions worsen

Following a jump in April, a move up in financing costs slowed new home sales in May. New home sales tumbled 13.7% over the month to the weakest pace in seven months (623K). The South experienced a particularly notable drop-off. The trend so far this year amounts to a 3.2% year-to-date decline in transactions, reflecting mounting headwinds to new home demand. According to Mortgage News Daily, mortgage rates breached 7.0% in May, reaching the highest level since February. Mortgage rates have retreated somewhat since but remain a substantial barrier to home buying. Rising resale inventory and less-intense price appreciation for existing homes are also notable headwinds, especially as new home inventories remain at their highest point since October 2007. That said, a recent downtrend in single-family housing starts may ease the supply overhang somewhat.

Download the Full Report!

Author

Wells Fargo Research Team

Wells Fargo

EUR/USD faces next resistance near 1.1930

EUR/USD has surrendered its earlier intraday advance on Thursday and is now hovering uncomfortably around the 1.1860 region amid modest gains in the US Dolla. Moving forward, markets are exoected to closely follow Friday’s release of US CPI data.

GBP/USD change course, nears 1.3600

GBP/USD gives away its daily gains and recedes toward the low-1.3600s on Thursday. Indeed, Cable now struggles to regain some upside traction on the back of the sudden bout of buying interest in the Greenback. In the meantime, investors continue to assess a string of underwhelming UK data releases released earlier in the day.

Gold plunges on sudden US Dollar demand

Gold drops markedly on Thursday, challenging the $4,900 mark per troy ounce following a firm bounce in the US Dollar and amid a steep sell-off on Wall Street, with losses led by the tech and housing sectors.

Ripple collaborates with Aviva Investors to tokenize funds as XRP interest declines

Ripple (XRP) exhibits subtle recovery signs, trading slightly above $1.40 at the time of writing on Thursday, as crypto prices broadly edge higher. Despite the metered uptick, risk-off sentiment remains a concern across the crypto market, as retail and institutional interest dwindle.

A tale of two labour markets: Headline strength masks underlying weakness

Undoubtedly, yesterday’s delayed US January jobs report delivered a strong headline – one that surpassed most estimates. However, optimism quickly faded amid sobering benchmark revisions.

Aster Price Forecast: Demand sparks on Binance Wallet partnership for on-chain perpetuals

Aster is up roughly 9% so far on Thursday, hinting at the breakout of a crucial resistance level. Aster partners up with Binance wallet for the second season of the on-chain perpetuals challenge.