Dow jumped 220, advancers over decliners 3-2 & NAZ went up 192. The MLP index fell 1 to 211 & the REIT index gained 4+ to 436. Junk bond funds crawled higher & Treasuries were sold, raising yields which have been dropping in recent weeks. Oil was off 2 to the 92s & gold dropped 18 to 1771.
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Fed’s Bullard sees more interest rate hikes ahead and no U.S. recession
OPEC+ set to approve minuscule oil output rise in rebuff to Biden
A decline in the rate on a 30-year mortgage had a positive effect on several areas of the real estate market in the past week. "The 30-year fixed rate saw the largest weekly decline since 2020, falling 31 basis points to 5.43%," said Joel Kan, MBA's associate VP of economic & industry forecasting. "The drop in rates led to increases in both refinance and purchase applications, but compared to a year ago, activity is still depressed." The mortgage rate fell from 5.74%. That move set off a domino effect with the refinance index rising 2% from the prior week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased 1% from the week before. Overall demand for mortgage applications was on the rise, gaining 1.2% in the past week. "Lower mortgage rates, combined with signs of more inventory coming to the market, could lead to a rebound in purchase activity," added Kan. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points last week, in an attempt to rein in rising inflation. The move puts the key benchmark federal funds rate at 2.25% to 2.50%, the highest since the pandemic began 2 years ago.
30-year fixed mortgage rate saw biggest weekly decline since 2020
The stock market is waiting for employment reports this week. Meanwhile the bulls are taking prices higher today. Changes in interest rates need to be watched. Treasury rates have dropped in recent weeks, but are higher today. After oil fell about 20% from highs in the last 2 months, that market continues to be very choppy. Today Nancy left Taiwan but tensions there remain high.
Dow Jones Industrials
