Bonds were just slightly weaker overnight but are losing more ground in early trading. The culprit: both of this morning's 8:30am ET economic releases. Jobless Claims data is probably the bigger deal as it continues to show no signs of labor market distress (216k vs 225k f'cast). The other report, Durable Goods, is more stale (pre-shutdown), but was also clearly upbeat with the core cap-ex figure coming in at a robust 0.9% vs 0.2% f'cast. The resulting sell-off in bonds is minimal but not massive. 10yr yields are up only 2.5bps at 4.021 and MBS are down less than an eighth.
Mortgage Rates Unchanged Despite Bond Market Improvement
Trading levels in the bond market directly impact the rates that mortgage lenders can offer. This is why rates moved so much lower after last week’s news regarding planned purchases of $200bln in mortgage backed bonds. But bonds aren’t the only …