The U.S. dollar gained against the Japanese yen but traded flat against the euro Tuesday, broadly recovering after economic reports showed sales of new and existing homes slowed during November. The dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major counterparts, edged up to 81.32 from 81.227 in late North American trading Monday. Strategists noted very thin trading conditions and investors putting in final orders, as many markets around the world will close on Wednesday and for the Christmas holiday Thursday. "This is it for a lot of people for the year," said Marc Chandler, head of global currency strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman. The euro bought $1.3929, little changed from $1.3943 Monday. The currency has been testing both sides of its recent range bounded between $1.4025 and $1.30, Chandler said. He also noted that the University of Michigan/Reuters survey of consumer sentiment showed confidence came in slightly better than expected this month, adding that this was mostly due to lower gasoline prices. Read more on sentiment. The dollar is still holding gains against Japan's yen, as traders eye the holidays and the end of the year, said Ronald Simpson, an analyst at Action Economics. "I think 90 yen seems to be a decent psychological level for the market, and risk appetite is still on the low side," which usually favors yen over dollars. The U.S. currency rose 0.8% to 90.94 yen. Much data to sort through Earlier, the dollar came under pressure after a report showed new-home sales fell 2.9% to seasonally adjusted annual rate of 407,000 units, the lowest level in more than 17 years and close to the pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. See new-home sales story. A separate report said existing home sales, which make up the bulk of the residential real-estate market, declined nearly 9% to a 4.49 million annualized pace, worse than the 4.9 million rate predicted. See article on existing-homes sales. Also, Commerce Department data confirmed that the U.S. economy contracted at a 0.5% annual rate in the third quarter. The gross domestic product figure, the final revision for the three months ended in September, was in line with expectations of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. See GDP story. "The report is not likely to alter expectations that the fourth quarter will likely see a much more pronounced decline," said Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets. The government's first estimate on the current quarter's GDP will come in January. Some economists are bracing for a 6% decline.

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