Thursday's bond market has opened in negative territory again as yesterday's sell-off extends into this morning's trading. The stock markets are showing relatively minor gains with the Dow up 18 points and the Nasdaq up 15 points. The bond market is currently down 11/32, which should push this morning's mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 - .250 of a discount point.
None of today's three reports showed a surprise significant enough to affect mortgage rates. The revised 2nd Quarter Productivity reading revealed a 1.8% decline. This was slightly weaker than the 1.7% decline that was forecasted, but was not enough of a variance to affect bond trading or mortgage rates. The Labor Department reported that 472,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week when 475,000 were expected. As with the productivity reading, this was not enough of a difference to influence this morning's mortgage pricing.
July's Factory Orders report w as released late this morning, showing a 0.1% increase in new orders for durable and non-durable goods. Analysts were expecting to see a 0.3% increase, so at first look this data can be considered good news for bonds and mortgage rates because it indicates weaker than expected manufacturing activity. However, a significant upward revision to June's orders offset July's news, creating a neutral impact on this morning's trading.
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