Housing data weak, dollar decline narrowed

"MarketWatch New York, May 19," Beijing time May 19 Evening News, after the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the April new housing opened a record low, Tuesday foreign exchange market early in the United States dollar against most major currencies declined. In its estimate, the Commerce Ministry said the number of new homes in the United States had fallen by 12.8% per cent in April, with an annualised figure of 458,000, well below the average of 519,000 previously expected by MarketWatch economists.　　The April new housing construction figures, the lowest value since the Ministry of Commerce's release of the data since 1959, have hit investors with upbeat expectations that the housing slump may have bottomed out.　　US-East time Tuesday 9:04 The dollar index (DXY), which tracks the performance of a basket of six major currencies against trade weights, fell 0.41 points, at 82.26 points, or 0.49% per cent. The euro climbed to 1.3587 against the dollar from the 1.3535 night in the North American currency market.　　The dollar fell from 96.37 to 95.97 against the yen. The Ministry of Commerce report also shows that the April construction permit number also fell to a record low, while below market expectations.