NEW YORK, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The dollar pulled back against major currencies on Wednesday amid some disappointing U.S. economic reports.

    U.S. new home sales tumbled 11.3 percent in November to a 355,000-unit seasonally adjusted annual rate, the lowest since April, the Commerce Department reported. The estimates for sales in August, September and October were revised down.

    A plausible explanation for the drop is payback for the first-time homebuyer's tax credit, which has been set to expire on Nov. 30. But the big decline is unexpected and disappointing as it showed that demand for new homes is still not strong enough to support expansion plans of home-builders.

    U.S. consumer spending rose 0.5 percent in November, according to another government report. After inflation, the increase was 0.2 percent. Personal income was up 0.4 percent in November, with an increase of 0.3 percent in wage and salary income.

    The report was slightly weaker than expectation, suggesting that consumer spending is not yet going to be a key driver of the recovery.

    The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index jumped by 5.1 points in December to 72.5. Sentiment about current economic conditions jumped by 9.2 points to 78.0, and consumer expectations rose more modestly by 2.4 points to 68.9.

    The euro bought 1.4315 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4254 dollars it bought late Tuesday. The British pound fell to 1.5946 dollars from 1.5967 dollars.

    The dollar fell to 1.0480 Canadian dollars from 1.0557 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.0382 Swiss francs from 1.0481 Swiss francs. It fell to 91.54 Japanese yen from 91.79 Japanese yen.

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