Economic update for the week ending October 12, 2019

Economic update for the week ending October 12, 2019

Stocks end three week slide after potential China trade deal  - President Trump announced that The U.S. and China have agreed on a trade deal. He called it a “phase one deal which now needs to be put in writing.” Stocks rose sharply in reaction. Unfortunately, bond yields also rose and mortgage interest rates were higher on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 26,816.59, up 0.9% from 26,573.73 last week. It is up 15% year to date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 2,970.27, up 0.6% from 2,952.79 last week. It is up 18.5% year to date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 8,057.04, up 0.9% from 7,982.47 last week. The NASDAQ is up 21.4% year to date. 


U.S. treasury bond yields higher for the week - The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 1.76%, up from 1.52% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 2.22%, up from 2.01% last week. We watch treasury bond yields because mortgage rates often follow bond yields. 


Mortgage rates lower this week -  The October 10, 2019 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate average was 3.57%, down from 3.65% last week. The 15-year fixed was 3.05%, down from 3.14% last week. The 5-year ARM was 3.35%, almost unchanged from 3.38% last week. Unfortunately, rates rose Friday and will be about 1/8% - 1/4%  higher next week.


Author, 

Syd Leibovitch