The integration allows servicers on ICE’s MSP platform to deploy Kastle’s AI agents without building custom infrastructure, Kastle said.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has dismissed scores of enforcement attorneys early in President Donald Trump’s second term, is staffing up its litigation arm in anticipation of defending its rules in court.

Weekend Selling Reverses After Another Round of De-Escalation Headlines

Another day, another chance to sort through a barrage of war-related headlines to see which ones mattered to the bond market. In today’s case, there were two distinct contenders. The first was apparently bogus. It referred to Iran considering abandoning its enrichment program and it actually caused a visible surge in volume and volatility. The second contender was a batch of headlines around 12:30ET that generally spoke to de-escalation potential and negotiation possibilities. All told, it was enough to reverse the overnight weakness seen after negotiations were allegedly abandoned.

Econ Data / Events

Existing home sales (Mar)

3.98M vs 4.06M f’cast, 4.09M prev

Market Movement Recap

09:23 AM Slightly weaker at the open, but mostly recovered now. MBS down 1 tick (.03) and 10yr down 1bp at 4.325

01:26 PM Best levels. MBS up an eighth and 10yr down 1bp at 4.305

03:36 PM Holding near best levels with MBS up 5 ticks (.16) and 10yr down 1.8bps at 4.297

The setback pared a weekly gain for US government bonds sparked by an April 8 ceasefire agreement, which caused oil prices to tumble from near multiyear highs.

Economists surveyed by Wolters Kluwer are scaling back rate cut expectations as Iran conflict-driven energy costs push inflation higher, complicating the Fed’s path forward.

A Colorado couple filed suit after realizing they might owe as much as $279,000 on a home equity investment contract used to obtain $88,000 in 2018.

The industry reported $275 million in losses from internet crimes last year, a 59% annual increase as losses nationwide surpassed $20 billion.

“Wildfire risk is not just an occasional catastrophe, but a recurring cost embedded in the state’s economy,” said the report issued this week by the California Earthquake Authority.

Bonds Drift Weaker Despite Lower Oil Prices

Although they still technically made positive progress versus the end of last week, bonds ended the day moderately weaker. Lower oil prices offered no support, but that’s a tricky correlation these days. Longer-term oil contracts continue lining up with bond yield movement more reliably. To be sure, we can at least consider the impact of this morning’s CPI data based on decent trading volume at the time and a reversal of the sideways to slightly stronger momentum in the preceding few hours, but it’s impossible to say that it continued weighing on bonds for the rest of the session.

Econ Data / Events

m/m CORE CPI (Mar)

0.2% vs 0.3% f’cast, 0.2% prev

m/m Headline CPI (Mar)

0.9% vs 0.9% f’cast, 0.3% prev

y/y CORE CPI (Mar)

2.6% vs 2.7% f’cast, 2.5% prev

y/y Headline CPI (Mar)

3.3% vs 3.3% f’cast, 2.4% prev

Market Movement Recap

10:58 AM Slightly weaker this AM but leveling off with MBS unchanged and 10yr up 3bps at 4.306

12:46 PM weakest levels. MBS down 3 ticks (.09) and 10yr up 4.2bps at 4.319

03:35 PM flat for the past few hours with MBS down 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr up 4bps at 4.316

If we’re splitting hairs, today’s average mortgage rates are technically higher than yesterday’s, but the change is so small that it’s just as fair to say that rates are flat. This closes out a week with surprisingly low volatility compared to that seen in March. In part, this can be attributed to longer-term oil prices being less volatile after moving down from their highs in late March. It’s also a reflection of uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the Iran war. The war (specifically, the economic/inflation implications) continue to be primary source of motivation for rates even in the presence of economic data that would normally have an impact. Reason being: we haven’t yet received big-ticket econ reports that have had a chance to bake in too much of the war’s impact. Today’s CPI inflation data was one of the first, but it came in close enough to forecasts to avoid making a strong case for rate volatility.