Nov 25, 2009
The U.S. dollar was mixed against major currencies on Tuesday as latest economic data suggested a slow recovery.
U.S. third-quarter GDP growth was revised down to an annualized rate of 2.8 percent from 3.5 percent previously estimated, roughly in line with consensus expectations, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday.
The major reasons for the downward revision were weaker growth in consumer spending, a bigger decline in non-residential construction, and a larger upward revision in imports compared with exports.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose to 49.5 in November from 48.7 in October. Consumers' appraisal of present-day conditions was virtually unchanged in November. Short-term outlook improved slightly, with the expectations index edged up by1.5 points to 65.7.
The Standard &Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index, a closely watched measure of 20 metropolitan areas, increased for the fourth consecutive month by 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in September. The index are up about 3.5 percent from their May low.
Also released Tuesday, the S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for the third quarter declined 8.9 percent from the same period in 2008, a significant improvement over the 14.7 percent decline of the second quarter.
The U.S. Federal Reserve released minutes for its latest monetary policy meeting held earlier in November. The minutes showed that Fed policymakers expect the economy to expand at a slow rate while unemployment remains high.
The euro bought 1.4975 U.S. dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4973 dollars it bought late Monday. The pound fell to 1.6593 dollars from 1.6621 dollars.
The dollar rose to 1.0577 Canadian dollars from 1.0553 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.0082 Swiss francs from 1.0093 Swiss francs. It fell to 88.56 Japanese yen from 89.02 Japanese yen.