By Ye Xie Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar traded near the weakest level versus the euro since December as an industry report showed pending resales of U.S. homes rose in June more than economists forecast, reducing demand for safety. “The market was desperate looking for direction, and a number like this is giving the market a small lift,” said Matthew Strauss, a senior currency strategist in Toronto at RBC Capital Markets Inc., a unit of Canada’s biggest bank by assets. “The market is continuing to unwind safe-haven dollar buying.” The dollar was little changed at $1.4414 per euro at 10:23 a.m. in New York, compared with $1.4412 yesterday, after earlier gaining as much 0.3 percent. The U.S. currency declined yesterday to $1.4445, the weakest level since Dec. 18. The yen traded at 137.25 against the euro, compared with 137.31, and was at 95.22 versus the dollar, compared with 95.26. The U.S. currency erased its advance versus the euro as the National Association of Realtors reported today that pending home resales increased 3.6 percent in June after a revised 0.8 percent gain in May. The median forecast of 35 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.7 percent rise. To contact the reporter on this story: Ye Xie in New York at yxie6@bloomberg.net

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