BREAKING: Markets muted after US existing home sales beat

US existing home sales data for May was released today at 3:00 pm BST. Data was on watch after building permits and housing starts data released earlier this week beat expectations, with starts surging 21.7% month-over-month! Existing home sales report was expected to show a 4.25 million, or 0.7% MoM decline from 4.28 million reported for April. 

However, actual data showed an unexpected 0.2% MoM increased to 4.30 million and data for April was revised slightly higher from 4.28 to 4.29 million. Markets saw little reaction to the data with USD moving slightly lower in a knee-jerk move and US indices ticking higher.

US existing home sales were little changed in May (+0.2% MoM) following a significant drop in April (-3.2% MoM). Source: Bloomberg, XTB