Market UpDate

This week is extremely busy in terms of economic data scheduled for release and will likely be another active week for mortgage rates. There are five economic releases scheduled for the week in addition to several speaking events for Fed and Cabinet members that may also influence the markets and mortgage rates. Four of these reports are considered to be of moderate or high importance, meaning we should see quite a bit of movement in mortgage rates this week.

The first report of the week is January's Personal Income and Outlays data tomorrow morning, which gives us an indication of consumer ability to spend and current spending habits. Current forecasts call for an increase in income of 0.3% while spending is expected to rise 0.3%. Larger increases would be good news for the stock markets and could hurt bond prices, driving mortgage rates higher tomorrow. Smaller than expected increases would be considered good news for mortgage rates.

Market UpDate

Monday's bond market has opened in positive territory despite early stock gains and stronger than expected economic data. The stock markets are starting the new decade with a sizable rally. The Dow is currently up 133 points while the Nasdaq has gained 32 points. The bond market is currently up 6/32, which should improve this morning's mortgage rates by approximately .375 of a discount point over Thursday's morning rates.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) gave us today's important data when they posted their manufacturing index for December late this morning. They reported a reading of 55.9, meaning that manufacturer sentiment about business conditions was stronger than thought. This normally is bad news for bonds and mortgage rates since it points towards a strengthening manufacturing sector. However, fortunately for mortgage borrower it appears that the data is being ignored this morning.