Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was down against most of the major currencies on Thursday after worse-than-expected U.S. data on pending home sales and manufacturing activity. During European afternoon trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD soaring 1.78% to hit 1.2452. Earlier in the day, industry data showed that U.S. pending home sales plunged 30% in May after increasing 6.0% in April. Analysts had expected a decline of 12.5% in May. Meanwhile, a separate report by the Institute for Supply Management said its index of purchasing managers declined 56.2 in June, after rising 59.7 in May. Analysts had expected a level of 59.0 in June. The greenback was also down against the pound and the New Zealand dollar with GBP/USD surging 1.16% to hit 1.5116 and NZD/USD up 0.06% to hit 0.6852. The greenback was also down against the Swiss franc and the yen, with USD/CHF shedding 1.45% to hit 1.0620 and USD/JPY tumbling 1.49% to hit 87.13. Earlier in the day, official data showed that Japans Tankan index of business confidence rose unexpectedly in the second quarter. But the greenback was up against its Australian and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD shedding 0.4% to hit 0.8372; and USD/CAD rising 0.08% to hit 1.0649. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 1.45%.

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