September 6th, 2019 8:44 AM by T. Fanning
Last Updated: 9/6/19Friday's bond market initially opened in negative ground but has since moved into positive territory. The major stock indexes are mixed with the Dow up 40 points and the Nasdaq down 3 points. The bond market is currently up 3/32 (1.55%) but weakness late yesterday is likely going to keep this morning's mortgage rates close to Thursday's early pricing.August's Employment report was posted at 8:30 AM ET this morning, giving us mixed readings on the employment sector. It showed that the U.S. unemployment rate held at 3.7% last month, as expected. The surprises came in the other headline numbers. The economy added only 130,000 new payrolls during the month when forecasts were calling for 160,000-170,000. In addition, downward revisions to July's and June's numbers removed 20,000 jobs from the year-to-date totals. That was the good news in the report.The bad news came in the average earnings reading that rose 0.4%. Analysts were expecting to see a 0.3% increase, meaning earnings rose more than thought. The higher monthly increase also bumped the annual rate higher than expected. Because rising wages is a sign of inflation, it is considered to be negative for bonds and mortgage rates.We still have Fed Chairman Powell's speech at 12:30 PM ET to watch. The topic is related to monetary policy and the economic outlook, which may heavily influence the markets. The markets will be very interested in his words and will react to any surprises or projections he makes.Next week will be another fairly busy week in terms of events that are expected to influence mortgage rates. The calendar includes two important inflation readings, a key measure of consumer spending and a couple of Treasury auctions that have the potential to come into play. None of these events will take place Monday though. Look for details on all of next week's activities in Sunday evening's weekly preview.If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would....Lock if my closing were taking place within 7 days...Lock if my closing were taking place between 8 and 20 days...Float if my closing were taking place between 21 and 60 days...Float if my closing were taking place over 60 days from now...This is only my opinion of what I would do if I was financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.**http://www.hlmcolorado.com/DailyRateAdvisory
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