•  Friday’s mortgage rates should be lower than Thursday’s early pricing by approximately .250 of a discount point. If you saw an intraday improvement yesterday, you likely will see little change this morning. The bond market is currently unchanged from Thursday’s close.

 •  Stocks are looking to close the week on a positive note with the Dow up 295 points and the Nasdaq up 90 points.

 •  The University of Michigan announced late this morning their revised May Index of Consumer Sentiment stood at 44.8. This was much lower than the 48.2 initial estimate from two weeks ago and indicates consumers were more concerned about their own financial and employment situations this month than many had thought. Waning confidence usually translates into softer consumer spending, restricting overall economic growth and bonds tend to thrive in weaker economic conditions, leading to lower mortgage rates.

 •  Also at 10:00 AM ET this morning was the release of April's Leading Economic Indicators (LEI). The Conference Board announced an increase of 0.1%, meaning the indicators are predicting slightly stronger economic activity over the next three to six months. While that is considered modest growth, the fact that analysts were expecting to see a 0.3% decline makes the report bad news for bonds and mortgage rates.

 •  The bond market will close at 2:00 PM ET this afternoon ahead of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday. We sometimes see a bit of pressure in bonds just before an extended weekend as some investors look to protect themselves from potential headlines while the markets are closed longer than usual.

 •  Stocks will trade a full day today, but all markets will be closed Monday for the holiday and reopen Tuesday morning for regular trading hours.

 •  Next week has a handful of economic reports and other events that we will be watching. With the markets closed Monday, the calendar begins Tuesday morning with the release of May’s Consumer Confidence Index.

 •  Thursday has the most important data scheduled, including the Fed’s preferred inflation readings.

 •  Look for details on all of next week’s relevant activities in Sunday evening’s weekly preview.

 • 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.