
• Wednesday’s mortgage rates should be lower than Tuesday’s early pricing by approximately .125 of a discount point. The bond market is currently down 1/32 (4.52%).
• Stocks are in negative ground, but most likely due to news of more military action with Iran. The Dow has lost 164 points and the Nasdaq is down 10 points.
• This morning’s major economic news came from the release of May’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) that showed consumer level inflation rose further last month, touching its highest annual rate since April 2023. On an annual basis, the core CPI reading moved up to a 2.9% pace.
• The monthly overall CPI reading rose 0.5% while the more relevant core data that excludes volatile food and energy costs was up 0.2%. Forecasts had them up 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.
• With exception to the slightly softer than predicted monthly core reading, there were no big surprises in the release. Even though the headline annual numbers are concerning for the bond market, they were expected. Accordingly, we are seeing a muted response to the data.
• We also have the results of today’s 10-year Treasury Note auction to watch for. If the 1:00 PM ET results announcement indicates there was a strong demand for the securities, we could see bonds improve this afternoon enough to cause a small intraday improvement in mortgage pricing before the end of the day. This will be repeated tomorrow for the 30-year Bond auction.
• Tomorrow also has the sister release of today’s CPI set to be posted. May’s Producer Price Index (PPI) that measures inflationary pressures at the wholesale level of the economy rather than consumer inflation will be released at 8:30 AM ET. Analysts are expecting the overall PPI to have risen 0.7% and the core data up 0.5%. Both readings are expected to rise on a year-over-year basis also.
• While the consumer readings are considered to be a little more influential than tomorrow’s wholesale numbers, tomorrow’s version is still highly important because price pressures at the wholesale level of the economy are likely to eventually be passed on to consumers. Therefore, weaker than expected readings in the PPI would be good news for bonds and mortgage rates.
• Last week’s unemployment figures will also be posted early tomorrow morning. They are expected to show 218,000 new claims for jobless benefits were made last week. This would be a decline from the previous week’s 225,000 initial filings. Declining claims are a sign of strength in the employment sector, so good news for bonds and mortgage rates would be an unexpected increase.
• Visit our Daily Commentary page on our site for detailed explanations on current news that is relevant to mortgage rates.
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