Rates Improve Slightly on Weaker than Expected Data
premier mortgage group | Friday, July 20th, 2012 | Comments OffMortgage interest rates improved slightly on the week as economic data was mostly weaker than expected. Economic data weaker than expected included June Retail Sales, June Capacity Utilization, June Building Permits, weekly jobless claims, June Existing Home Sales, June Leading Economic Indicators, and the July Philadelphia Fed Business Index. The Fed Beige Book reported modest to moderate economic expansion in the 12 Federal Reserve Districts. Economic data stronger than expected included the July New York Empire State Manufacturing Index, June Industrial Production, June Housing Starts, and the NAHB Housing Index. The NAHB Housing Index had its largest month over month improvement in 10 years. Inflation data was tame with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) unchanged in June. Excluding the food and energy components, core CPI was up 0.2%, in line with expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently at 12,851, up almost 75 points on the week. Crude oil spot prices are currently at $91.17 per barrel, up almost $4 per barrel on the week. The Dollar strengthened versus the Euro and weakened versus the Yen on the week.
Next week look toward Wednesday’s New Home Sales, Thursday’s Durable Goods Orders and Jobless Claims, and Friday’s first look at Q2 GDP and Consumer Sentiment Index as potential market moving events.