Pending Home Sales Rise Slightly in November

Wells Fargo Research Team Wells Fargo

Home buying appears to have ramped up toward the end of 2017. The National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) pending home sales index rose 0.2 percent in November. The small increase follows a strong October rise.

Pending Sales Surge in the Northeast

After October’s strong 3.5 percent monthly gain, pending home sales managed a slight, 0.2 percent gain in November. The gain suggests existing home sales remain strong in December.
The Northeast saw pending sales surge 4.1 percent. Pending sales also rose 0.4 percent in the Midwest. Unseasonably mild fall weather likely exaggerated the extent of the improvement, as the seasonal factors are quite large this time of year.

Sales Eased Somewhat in the South and West

Pending sales fell 0.4 percent in the South, following a 7.4 percent surge in October. That earlier surge reflected a bounce back from storm-related disruptions in August and September.
Pending home sales fell 1.8 percent in the West, marking the third drop in the past four months. Low inventories and declining affordability remain the biggest challenges for the West and will likely weigh on sales going forward.

Download The Full Economic Indicators

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 inching closer to 1.36

The Pound Sterling edged higher to 1.3640 on Thursday, recovering from an earlier pullback after stronger-than-expected US jobs data initially weighed on the pair. The Bank of England held rates at 3.75% at its February 4 meeting in a narrow 5-4 vote split, with four members preferring a 25 basis point cut to 3.50%.

Gold falls to near $4,900 as selling pressure intensifies

Gold price faces some selling pressure around $4,910 during the early Asian session on Friday. The yellow metal tumbles over 3.50% on the day, with algorithmic traders appearing to amplify the precious metal’s sudden drop. Traders will closely monitor the release of the US Consumer Price Index inflation report for January, which will be released later on Friday.

Ethereum investors face huge unrealized losses following price slump

US spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds flipped negative again on Wednesday after recording net outflows of $129.1 million, reversing mild inflows seen at the beginning of the week, per SoSoValue data. Fidelity's FETH was responsible for more than half of withdrawals, posting outflows of $67 million.

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.