Last week:
Headline News
- Retail Sales – Sales in September dropped 0.1%, following a 0.2% rise in August. The slip was a surprise to analysts, who projected no change for September.
- Producer Price Index (PPI) – The September PPI declined 0.1% after rising 0.3% in August. Food prices fell 1.0% after jumping 0.6% in August.
- Case-Schiller – Home-price appreciation picked up new steam in August, marking the first uptick since April when prices jumped 1.7%.
- Consumer Confidence – The government shutdown weighed heavily on consumer confidence, which dropped 11%.
- Consumer Price Index (CPI) – Consumer price inflation rose 0.2% in September, following a 0.1% rise in August.
- FOMC Rate Decision – The FOMC decided to continue purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month and longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of $45 billion per month.
- Jobless Claims – Initial claims came in at 340,000, which is 10,000 below the prior week but more than 30,000 above last month’s trend.
Senate Democrats were three votes short of advancing the nomination of U.S. Congressman Mel Watt to head the agency that oversees the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage groups.
Mortgage Rates
For the second consecutive week, mortgage rates dropped, hitting their lowest levels since June. According to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey:
30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.10% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending October 31, 2013, down from last week when it averaged 4.13%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.39%.
15-year FRM this week averaged 3.20% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.24%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.70%.
5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.96% this week with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.00%. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.74%.
1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.64% this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.60%. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.58%.
Equity Markets
The S&P 500 jumped 0.3% to 1,761.49 by the end of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose 69.80 points (0.5%) to 15,615.55. Nearly 6.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 14% above the three-month average.
Week ahead:
The Following Reports Are Due Out This Week
Thursday, Nov. 7
- Gross Domestic Product (8:30 a.m. ET) – GDP is the broadest measure of aggregate economic activity and encompasses every sector of the economy.
- Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m. ET) – New unemployment claims are compiled weekly to show the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time.
Friday, Nov. 8
- Consumer Sentiment (9:55 a.m. ET) – The University of Michigan’s Consumer Survey Center questions 500 households each month on their financial conditions and attitudes about the economy. It is directly related to the strength of consumer spending.
Visit the Quicken Loans Zing Blog for updated information on important economic releases that affect your wallet.
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