US consumer confidence drops to 120.3, a bigger drop than had been expected but still a high score. New home sales jumped by 5.8% to 621K in March, much better than 583K projected. The figure for February was revised down from 592K to 587K.
The US dollar is slightly stronger in the immediate aftermath, rising within the known ranges.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence measure was expected to settle lower in April: 122.5 points. The measure jumped to 125.6 in March, the highest in many years. However, this is not backed by an increase in retail sales.
New home sales carried expectations for a 0.8% drop to 583K in March after 592K in February (before revisions).
Earlier, the Case-Shiller 20-city HPI showed a rise of 5.85% in house prices y/y in February, marginally above expectations.
The US dollar was on the back foot against the majors but gaining against commodity currencies.
