Thursday's bond market has opened in positive territory due to a
negative open in stocks and some weaker than expected economic news.
The
stock markets are showing minor losses with the Dow down 15 points and
the Nasdaq down 4 points. The bond market is currently up 13/32, but I
don't believe we will see much of an improvement in this morning's
mortgage rates due to weakness in trading late yesterday.
If your lender
did revise their rates upward yesterday afternoon, then you should see a
small improvement in this morning's pricing.
In other words, today's
early rates should be very close to yesterday's morning pricing.
There
were three pieces of economic data posted this morning, but none of
them were considered to be highly important to the markets.
The Labor
Department started them with the release of last week's unemployment
figures early this morning. They announced that 387,000 new claims for
unemployment benefits were filed last week, down slightly from the
previous week's revised total of 389,000 initial claims. Analysts were
expecting to see 380,000 claims, based on the 386,000 that was
previously announced for the week before. This means that we saw a
larger than expected number of new claims, indicating a weaker than
expected employment sector last week. That makes the data good news for
the bond market and mortgage rates.
The National Association of
Realtors announced late this morning that sales of existing homes fell
1.5% last month. This was very close to analysts' forecasts, preventing
it from influence mortgage rates. The fact that we saw a decline in home
resales indicates a softening housing sector, which is favorable news
for the bond market and mortgage rates. However, since the data nearly
matched forecasts, its impact on this morning's pricing has been
minimal.
May's Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) was the third and
final report of the day. The Conference Board announced a 0.3% increase
in the LEI, meaning it is predicting minor economic growth over the
next several months. That was stronger than what many had expected,
making the data negative for bonds and mortgage rates. Fortunately, this
data is not considered to be highly influential, so it has had little
effect on mortgage rates this morning.
Tomorrow has nothing of
relevance scheduled, so look for the stock markets to influence bond
trading. If we see minor losses or gains in stocks, I suspect the bond
market will remain fairly calm, keeping mortgage rates close to today's
levels. If stocks rally, bonds will probably suffer and mortgage rates
will rise slightly. And we can expect the opposite if the major stock
indexes show noticeable losses tomorrow morning. By James Brooks First Financial Services
The
views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those
providing comments or external internet links are theirs alone, and do not
necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of First
Capital, we make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, current,
suitability, or validity of this information and will not be liable for
any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries,
or damages arising from its display or use. Any
information provided does not constitute an offer or a solicitation to lend.
Providing information to purchase does not guarantee a loan approval. All registered
trademarks, copyright, images, or other items used are property of their
respective owner and are used for editorial purposes only.
First Capital Mortgage is a subsidiary of PHH Home Loans LLC, a
direct lender, Dept. of Corporations file #413-0713 NMLS#4256
Visit FirstCapital Online or call: 310-458-0010
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.