In the US session Existing Home Sales and Manufacturing PMI data was released. Existing Home Sales rose 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in December from a downwardly-revised 4.92 million in November. Analysts were expecting a rate of 5.08 million. From a year ago, December sales were higher by 3.5% and are now above year-over-year levels for the third straight month.
Separate report on Manufacturing PMI also missed market expectations on an increase to 54.1 and decreased to 53.7 points in January. Slower new business growth was a key factor weighing on the overall performance of the U.S. manufacturing sector in January.
Monday's session should be a steadier once since there will be no data releases both form Australia and USA. With that being the case we would pay attention to gold and iron ore prices, though we expect less volatility at the beginning of the week ahead of FOMC Meeting on Wednesday.