NEW YORK, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar index fell in late trading on Friday, as a negative house market report dampened investor sentiment.
U.S. existing-home sales declined in September after a month of stagnation in August, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Total existing-home sales fell 3.4 percent from August to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.15 million in September, notching the lowest level since November 2015. Sales are now down 4.1 percent from a year ago.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says rising interest rates have led to a decline in sales across all regions of the country.
"A decade's high mortgage rates are preventing consumers from making quick decisions on home purchases," he said.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.20 percent at 95.7118 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1510 dollars from 1.1464 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.3065 dollars from 1.3032 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar was up to 0.7118 dollar from 0.7105 dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 112.60 Japanese yen, higher than 112.18 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar increased to 0.9971 Swiss franc from 0.9954 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.3116 Canadian dollars from 1.3078 Canadian dollars. Enditem
