Premier Mortgage Group

Mortgage interest rates increased slightly as economic data was generally positive.  December Business Inventories, January Capacity Utilization, January Housing Starts, the February Philadelphia Fed Business Index, and January Leading Economic Indicators were all in line with expectations.  Economic data better than expected included January Retail Sales excluding automobiles, the New York Empire State Manufacturing Index, the NAHB Housing Index for February, January Building Permits, and weekly jobless claims.  Weekly jobless claims fell 13k to 348k claims, its lowest level in four years.  Reports weaker than expected included January Retail Sales and January Industrial Production.  Also of note, the Consumer Price Index for January increased 0.2% on expectations that it would increase by 0.3%.  Excluding the food and energy components, core CPI increased by 0.2%, in line with expectations.  Also, markets increasingly believe that Greece and European officials will agree to a bailout deal on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently at 12,928, up almost 130 points on the week.  Crude oil spot prices are currently at just over $103 per barrel, up over $4 per barrel on the week.  The Dollar strengthened versus both the Yen and Euro on the week.

Next week look toward Wednesday’s Existing Home Sales, Thursday’s weekly jobless claims, and Friday’s New Home Sales as potential market moving events.  U.S. markets are closed Monday in observance of Presidents’ Day.

Posted in Industry & Market News, Weekly Update