Mortgage rates are unchanged from last Thursday’s ‘rate update’.
It’s a busy week for fresh economic news. Virtually all of the significant data will be released Thursday and Friday. On Thursday we’ll get a reading on GPD and initial jobless claims. On Friday we’ll get the all-important jobs report for October as well as personal income/ spending, and inflation at the wholesale level of the economy.
Until we get the latest jobs report I expect mortgage rates to more or less tread water. The Fed has made it clear that they will leave quantitative easing (QE) in place until economic conditions improve. At this point most analysts believe that QE will remain in place until the beginning of 2014. A weaker than expected jobs report on Friday could help rates improve from current levels but a blockbuster report would do the opposite.
In the meantime, we’ll continue to track technical trading patterns. Mortgage-backed bonds (MBS’s) are currently trading at the 200-day moving average. If MBS prices decline from current levels then mortgage rates may be destine to move higher. However, I don’t expect any significant movements for better or worse until Friday.
Current Outlook: floating