• Monday’s mortgage rates should be approximately .125 of a discount point lower than Friday’s early pricing. The bond market is currently up 7/32 (4.47%).

• Stocks are also showing early gains, pushing the Dow up 99 points and the Nasdaq up 31 points.

• There is no relevant economic data scheduled for release today.

• The rest of the week has six monthly economic reports set to be posted, three of which are considered to be extremely important to the financial and mortgage markets.

• Throughout the week there is an abundance of Fed speeches that may come into play also.

• Economic reports begin tomorrow morning with the 8:30 AM ET release of April's Producer Price Index (PPI). This highly important report measures inflation at the producer level of the economy. The overall reading is expected to have risen 0.3% while the more important core data that excludes volatile food and energy costs is predicted to show a 0.2% increase. Favorable news for bonds and mortgage rates will be smaller increases.

• In addition to this week’s data, we have quite a large number of Fed-member speaking appearances scheduled. There are multiple speeches being made most days and Fed Chairman Powell is involved in one late tomorrow morning. Any surprise comments, particularly about the Fed’s future plans with key interest rates, could cause a strong reaction in the financial and mortgage markets.

• Overall, Wednesday is the most important day of the week for rates due to the significance of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Retail Sales reports that are being released. They will likely heavily contribute to the direction of mortgage rates this week.

• The calmest day is expected to be Friday unless something unexpected happens.

• If still floating an interest rate and closing in the near future, it would be prudent to keep an eye on the markets as we should see plenty of movement in them and mortgage rates this week.

• Visit our Daily Commentary page on our site for detailed explanations on current news that is relevant to mortgage rates.

 

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If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.