Mortgage Rates went on a bit of a ride this week as the Bond market suffered losses due to a positive reaction from the Stock Market regarding the Fiscal Cliff resolution.
The technical signals are currently bullish for Mortgage Rates, therefore I am recommending floating, not locking into Mortgage Rates at this time. But the market can change quickly, so stay tuned.
The 3% coupon rallied back big today after losing 141bp from the high hit on 12/28 until this morning’s low of 103.56. Yesterday’s Fed comments could be a distant memory next week as investors see that the economy still has a lot of wood to chop. The 3% ended at 104.16, up 16bp and up 59bp from the 103.56 hit this morning.
Stocks had a decent day – the Dow rose 43.85 points to 13,435.21, the S&P 500 rose 7.10 points to 1,466.47 while the Nasdaq rose 1.09 points to end the week at 3,101.66. Oil was last seen at $93.07/barrel near unchanged.
Economic News
Friday’s Job’s report shows the U.S. economy created 155,000 new jobs in December, compared to 161,000 in November. The November figure was revised up from 146,000.
The December report also shows a 30,000 jump in construction jobs, including 12,000 residential specialty trade contractors. In November, the bureau reported a 20,000 decline in construction workers which surprised many economists. One private economist said BLS is revising the way it estimates construction jobs.
The report shows mortgage brokers hired 1,200 new employees in November while other mortgage lenders trimmed their payrolls for the second straight month.
BLS reported that employment in the mortgage banking and brokerage sector edged up to 284,900 in November from 284,600 in October.
Mortgage companies have added 22,800 full-time employees to their payrolls since January 2012. Mortgage brokerage firms are responsible for 14,200 of those new hires.