Mortgage Rates Increase Despite Economic News

Mortgage rates did the opposite of what I anticipated today after the surprise news from the Jobs report this morning.  For the past three months, the date of which we get this report, we have seen the opposite reactions to the report, and this was no different.  With the large miss, and the negative revisions we had seen from the previous two months, this usually favors pricing, but not today.

It was a volatile day for financial markets with news of air strikes in Syria being the focal point for overnight trading.  Bond markets started the day off in much better shape as a result.  All of the rate-friendly developments turned out to be too much of a good thing.  Any trader inclined to buy bonds had done so shortly after the jobs report came out.   With buyers burnt out, sellers were in the majority.  As such, the rest of the day was resigned to a paradoxical move toward higher rates.

Despite the US missile assault on Syria and a tepid March NFP report, when rates rise despite bond friendly data/world events, it's time to pay attention. 

In summary, it was another roller coaster day out there. I usually do not like to pull the trigger on Friday afternoons, as today was no exception.  With all the volatility, if you have not yet pulled the trigger, hold off one more day and let us see what happens over the weekend.  Grant you that the 10yr did take a dramatic turn and going past the resistant level only to be pushed back up in a big way today. Bonds just do not want to break the current floor.