Mubasher: US pending home sales index (PHSI), which measures signed contracts to buy existing houses, saw a month-on-month decline in October, according to data released on Thursday.

Home sales gauge was 102.1 last October, falling by 2.6%, compared with 104.8 in September, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said.

On a yearly basis, contract signings dropped 6.7% last month for the tenth month in a row.

“The recent rise in mortgage rates have reduced the pool of eligible homebuyers,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said.

By 3:28 pm GMT, the US dollar index went up 0.05% to 96.8340.