Investing.com - Pending home sales in the U.S. fell unexpectedly in February, underlining concerns over the housing sector, industry data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index dropped by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.3% gain.
Pending home sales for January were revised down to a 0.2% decline from a previously reported gain of 0.1%.
Year-on-year, pending home sales fell at annualized rate of 10.2% in February, worse than expectations for a 8.5% decline, after declining 9.3% in January.
Following the release of the data, the euro held on to losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USDshedding 0.08% to trade at 1.3774, compared to 1.3770 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets were lower after the open. The Dow Jones Composite fell 0.3%, the S&P 500 index dipped 0.4%, while the Nasdaq index declined 0.5%.