US Existing Home Sales Report May Affect Real Estate and Dollar Performance

U.S. Existing Home Sales Report May Affect Real Estate and Dollar Performance

The National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its existing home sales report on August 22, 2024, at 14:00 GMT. The released figure, which reflects the amount of resale housing sales completed within a particular month, is forecasted to edge up to 3.91 million from the previous 3.89 million.

Now, this is the kind of data that should give insight into the health of the U.S. real estate market. Should the report indicate the rise in existing home sales, this might mean improved consumer confidence and demand for housing, which could be great news for the U.S. dollar. Deviation from predictions might create mixed market reactions.

Should the report indicate that it surged stronger than expected, this may do well to favor the dollar, since stronger house activities are usually a function of economic strength. On the other hand, a sales result below expectation or flat may indicate fundamental weaknesses in the housing sector and weigh on the dollar.

What will be awaited by investors and analysts now is a probable fallout on the real estate market and currency fluctuations. This report may further switch market sentiments, but how much it actually does depends on how far actual data falls short of, or comes close to, the forecast.

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Report May Signal Shifts in Labor Market and Impact Dollar

The U.S. Department of Labor is due to publish its latest Initial Jobless Claims today at 12:30 GMT. It's expected to show a rise in claimants for first-time unemployment benefits, as per predictions of 229,000 claims against the previous figure of 227,000.

It is expected to contain important information about the prevailing situation in the U. S. labor market. The number of jobless claims often adapts to the job market therefore, a high and rising number may exert pressure on the greenback. 

If it reveals a higher figure than what has been anticipated, there will be worries about the state of the labor market and the direction of the policy. Such an outcome may prove to be a loss for the dollar because investors would change their minds about the robustness of the US economy. On the other hand, if the claims turn out to be lower than expected, then this might be construed as positive in the labor market, which could prop up the dollar.