Mortgage Update from M-Point

Mortgage bond prices remained near unchanged holding mortgage interest rates relatively steady for the week. There was very little data the first portion of the week and rates improved slightly as the DOW was down 183 points at one point Monday morning. Unfortunately the durable goods orders and new home sales data were not as weak as expected which helped stocks rally at the expense of bonds the latter portion of the week. For the week, interest rates on government and conventional loans were unchanged.

The Treasury auctions will factor heavily in trading this week. It will be interesting to see how the additional debt supply is absorbed. The gross domestic product and employment cost index data will be the most important releases. No surprises are expected from the Fed but the meeting may still result in some mortgage interest rate volatility.