Investing.com - The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose less than expected in February, underlining concerns over the housing sector, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index rose at an annualized rate of 12.9% in February from a year earlier, compared to forecasts for a 13% gain and following a rise of 13.2% in January.
Month-on-month, U.S. home prices were little changed in February after dipping 0.1% in the preceding month.
“The annual rates cooled the most we've seen in some time,” says David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar held on to gains against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.17% to trade at 1.3827.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow pointed to a rise of 0.55%, S&P 500 futures indicated a gain of 0.35%, while the Nasdaq 100 signaled an increase of 0.35%.