The Australian dollar dipped below 91 US cents overnight for the first time since early August as positive US data pushed the value of the American currency higher.

The Aussie picked up though in morning trade and at 8.15am AEDT it was worth 91.24US cents, which is still down around half a cent from the same time yesterday.

Wall Street saw modest gains up until late in trade, as investors weighed positive housing data against a slide in consumer confidence.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up gains by the end of trade and finished flat at 16,073.

The S&P 500 also gave up gains and ended flat at 1,802.

The key S&P/ Case-Shiller home sales index shows US property values saw their sharpest rise in five years in September, with prices up 13.3 per cent for the year.

Other official data from the Commerce Department showed more applications for home construction were issued in October than at any time in the past five years.

However, taking the shine off these strong reports was a decline in consumer confidence.

It unexpectedly hit a seven-month low in November as the Government’s partial shutdown continued to weigh on sentiment.

Across the Atlantic European stocks fell, as corporate profit warnings and that lower-than-expected US consumer confidence data spooked investors.

The FTSE 100 lost 0.9 per cent to 6,636.

Falls on the continent average around a third of a per cent, France’s CAC index saw the sharpest fall fown 0.57 per cent to 4,278.

The US oil price continues to be trimmed back, it finished trade at $US93.34 a barrel, but Tapis had picked up in Singapore to $US121.03.

The spot gold price gave back some recent gains overnight and was worth $US1,242.30 an ounce.