Greenback pares gains on existing home sales data

The US dollar gained on the euro Tuesday, but then gave back some of the gains after the National Association of Realtors said that pending sales of existing homes were down by 3.2 percent in July after going up 5.8 percent in June.

In late morning trade in New York, the US dollar traded at $1.4174 to the euro, but the dollar was weaker versus the yen as it took ¥107.28 to buy a dollar.

The yen gained and the Australia and New Zealand dollars declined as investors sold higher-yielding currencies on worries concerning whether the US government rescue of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac ( NYSE: FRE) will make a difference in the credit crisis and help avert more slowdowns in global economies.

It took 80.83 cents US to buy an Australian dollar at late morning in New York and the Aussie was worth ¥86.7198 while at the same time the New Zealand dollar was worth 67.28 cents US and ¥72.237.

Story link: Greenback pares gains on existing home sales data