Friday Market Update

Friday’s bond market has opened in positive territory due mostly to early stock weakness. The Dow and Nasdaq are showing losses of 86 points and 7 points respectively. The bond market is currently up 8/32.

The first of today’s two relevant economic reports was August's Personal Income and Outlays at 8:30 AM ET. The Commerce Department announced that personal income rose 0.4% while spending rose 0.3% last month. Both readings were slightly higher than analysts were expecting to see, meaning consumers had more money to spend and actually spent more than many had thought. That makes the data negative for the bond market and mortgage rates because it points towards economic growth, although the small variance was not enough to cause much alarm during early trading.

Late this morning we got the University of Michigan's revised Index of Consumer Sentiment for September. It came in at 77.5, which nearly matched forecasts. It was a small increase from the initial reading of 76.8, indicating consumers were a little more confident about their own financial situations than previously thought. This means they are more apt to make a large purchase in the near future, fueling economic growth. That makes the data negative for the bond market, but as with the morning’s other data it just wasn’t enough of a difference to affect mortgage rates.

Next week brings us the release of a couple of highly important economic reports, including the ISM manufacturing index Tuesday and the almighty monthly Employment report Friday. There is other data scheduled in between those two, but they will be the key reports of the week. There is nothing of relevance scheduled for Monday, so expect the typical influences of weekend news and stock direction to drive bond trading and mortgage rates movement. Look for details on all of next week’s events in Sunday’s weekly preview.

 

At this point there is very little reason to lock in your rate. Take advantage of any improvements in rates today and Monday and look to clock in no later than Tuesday of next week.