Home Prices

Home Prices

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index covering 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell 15.3 percent in April from a year earlier after a 14.3 percent decline the prior month. It's the biggest decline since data began in 2001.

Norway's krone climbed as much as 0.6 percent to 5.1184 per dollar, the strongest since June 10, on speculation Norges Bank will raise borrowing costs tomorrow. Nine of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News forecast the central bank will increase the 5.5 percent target lending rate by a quarter- percentage point.

The yen fell 0.6 percent to 21.060 against the krone and 0.4 percent to 17.870 versus Sweden's krona as Japanese finance companies sought to raise more than 1 trillion yen ($9.2 billion) for funds to be invested abroad by June 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

`Capital Outflows'

``Capital outflows should weigh on the yen,'' said Hideo Shimomura, who oversees the equivalent of $4 billion as a chief fund manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co., a unit of Japan's largest publicly traded lender. ``Funds focused on infrastructure of oil-producing and resource-rich nations are doing well.''

Volatility implied by dollar-yen options expiring in one month fell to 10.46 percent, from 10.61 percent yesterday and 12.11 percent on June 11. Lower volatility reduces the risk foreign-exchange fluctuations will erode the profit from investing overseas.

Japan's benchmark rate of 0.5 percent is the lowest among major economies, making assets outside the country more attractive to domestic investors. Sweden's target lending rate is 4.25 percent.

The Australian dollar increased 0.1 percent to 95.38 U.S. cents, near an 11-day high of 95.67 U.S. cents reached June 20, after Rio Tinto Group said China agreed to a record price increase for iron ore, Australia's largest export.