US existing home sales have come in marginally better than expected, but this has done little to buoy up Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is around 56 points lower at the moment as home sales edged up to an annual rate of 5m units, compared with an expected 4.97m. The inventory of homes for sale fell 3.6% at the end of November.
Announcing the figures, the National Association of Realtors has added its voice to those calling for further US rate cuts.