U.S. homebuilder confidence index falls in January

The U.S. NAHB housing market index of homebuilder confidence dropped in January. The index fell to 72, retreating from the multi-year high reached in December. The reading came in line with consensus expectations.

The moderation in January was driven by a decline in prospective buyers traffic, which dropped lower to 54. There were modest falls in present and future expectations of single-family home sales; however, these indices continued to remain at healthy levels.

“As forwarding-looking indicators, these continue to point to a modest pickup in starts activity in the near future. In all, we continue to expect housing activity to trend upward, albeit at a modest pace”, noted Barclays in a research report.

At 18:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at -15.6936. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

FxWirePro launches Absolute Return Managed Program. For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/invest