Stronger Start on Yet Another Peace Deal Headline

It seems that we’ve seen slight variations on the same peace deal news for the past several days. That’s probably because there is an actual peace deal that’s probably near the actual finish line and that’s probably why the market is actually willing to trade it. This morning’s headlines were as simple as any recent example: Iran’s state TV obtained a draft of the peace framework with the key inclusion being a commitment to restoring commercial traffic through Hormuz within one month. Bond yields dropped about 2bps on the news and MBS rallied about an eighth of a point–fairly tame, but clearly connected.

Good Reminder That The Market Gets to Decide What Matters

Good Reminder That The Market Gets to Decide What Matters

If oil, Treasuries, stocks, and the rest of the market were completely closed, and if we could only estimate the probable impact of the news that’s been available over the past 3 days, it would be hard to make that case that bond yields should be any lower than they were on Friday. In fact, some of the newswires (the ones citing various military clashes) might lead one to suspect yields should be higher. But here we are with 10s down more than 6bps and MBS up almost half a point just after 3pm ET–a good reminder that the market gets to decide what to make of the available news.

Econ Data / Events

Philly Fed Non Manufacturing

-23.6 vs -13.0 f’cast

Chicago Fed Activity Index

.14 vs -.03

Market Movement Recap

08:43 AM Overnight peace optimism gains holding. MBS up half a point and 10yr down 8bps at 4.482

11:02 AM Off best levels. MBS up 3/8ths and 10yr down 5.6bps at 4.502

02:45 PM Modest recovery. MBS up 14 ticks (.44) and 10yr down 6.1bps at 4.498

Mortgage Rates End Week Roughly Unchanged

Mortgage lenders rely on the bond market to generate mortgage rates. In addition to being fully closed on Monday for Memorial Day, bonds also close 3 hours earlier than normal on the preceding Friday (i.e. today). The abbreviated trading session was fairly uneventful for rates despite some back-and-forth volatility in response to diplomacy headlines surrounding Iran/US peace negotiations. The flow of news resulted in better bond market levels early in the day and a pull-back in the late AM hours. After accounting for some lenders’ mid-day rate changes, the average lender ended the day right in line with yesterday’s levels which were also incidentally right in line with last Friday’s levels.