Mortgage Rate Updates 11-20-09

Friday's bond market opened flat with no relevant economic news being posted today. The stock markets are showing losses with the Dow down 40 points and the Nasdaq down 14 points. The bond market is currently down 2/32, which should keep this morning's mortgage rates at yesterday's levels.

The stock markets appear prepared to close the week in negative ground. This should be good news for bonds heading into next week. Since there is no relevant data scheduled for release today, any changes to mortgage rates this afternoon will likely come from sizable move in stocks. If the major stock indexes continuer to move lower, there is a possibility of seeing downward revisions to mortgage rates this afternoon.

There are a couple of important reports scheduled for release next week. There is relevant data being posted Monday when the National Association of Realtors gives us October's home resale figures. It is expected to show an increase in sales f rom September's level, meaning the housing sector improved over the past month. However, this data is not considered to be highly important, so it will likely take a sizable variance from forecasts to cause a noticeable move in mortgage rates.

Next week is a holiday-shortened week due to Thanksgiving Day, meaning all of the week's data will likely be released the first three days of the week. Look for more details on next week's events in Sunday's weekly preview.