Roughly Unchanged After Moderate Headline-Driven Volatility
As has been the recent custom, there were dueling headlines concerning the Iran war today with opposing claims regarding the status of the Israel/Lebanon ceasefire. If that sounds like kind of a stretch when it comes to bond market significance, bond traders agreed. That said, it was still traded to some extent. This resulted in mid-day volatility that took bonds from slightly weaker to slightly stronger territory, and then back to being roughly unchanged. Econ data was a relative non-event in the morning, but Friday's data has a slightly better chance of garnering a response.
Econ Data / Events
Jobless Claims (Apr)/04
219K vs 210K f'cast, 202K prev
Continued Claims (Mar)/28
1794.0K vs 1840K f'cast, 1841K prev
Core PCE (m/m) (Feb)
0.4% vs 0.4% f'cast, 0.4% prev
Core PCE (y/y) (Feb)
3.0% vs 3% f'cast, 3.1% prev
GDPQ4
0.5% vs 0.7% f'cast, 4.4% prev
GDP Final SalesQ4
0.3% vs 0.4% f'cast, 4.5% prev
Market Movement Recap
08:37 AM Very flat overnight. Slightly weaker after data. MBS down 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr up half a bp at 4.30
10:31 AM weakest levels. MBS down 9 ticks (.28) and 10yr up 1.4bps at 4.311
11:38 AM 10s now down 1bp at 4.285. MBS are within 1 tick (.03) of unchanged.
01:39 PM Best levels of the day for 10s, down 3.2bps at 4.264. MBS unchanged (also near opening highs).
03:37 PM Off the best levels, but not with sustained selling. MBS down 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr down 1bp at 4.288
Mortgage Rates Trickle Just a Bit Lower
Many borrowers will see no difference between yesterday and today’s mortgage rate quotes. The average lender moved just a hair lower. Once again, the rate market is responding to war-related headlines and their impact on oil prices. Rates don’t always…