Commentary: As expected, the European Central Banks raised short-term interest rates for the 17 member nations of the euro-zone by 25 basis-points earlier this morning. It was the first hike since 2008. Mortgage investors shrugged.
Mortgage investors were equally unimpressed by news from the Labor Department indicating the number of Americans standing in line to file first-time jobless claims dropped 10,000 during the week ended April 2nd. This was the second straight drop for this measure of labor market conditions and continues to signal a slow improvement in overall economic growth - a consideration already well priced into most of investors' rate sheets.
Against the push and pull of the current macro-economic background I believe trading activity in the stock markets will likely be the factor that tilts the trend trajectory of mortgage interest rates decidedly in one direction or the other. Higher stock prices will tend to put upward pressure on mortgage interest rates while falling stock prices will probably prove supportive of steady to fractionally lower mortgage interest rates. My models are suggesting the further we get into April - the more difficult it will likely be for the Dow and NASDAQ to sustain their move to higher prices.
Be patient - be disciplined - and play it by the numbers.
THE MARKET IS ALWAYS RIGHT! . YOU AND I ARE SOME OF THE TIME
