MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Thursday, May 23
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10:51 AM Mortgage rates rise for the third straight week, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.59%, up from last week's 3.51%, while the 15-year fixed averaged 2.77% vs. 2.69% a week ago. The respective rates were 3.78% and 3.04% a year ago. Comment!
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10:07 AM More on New Home Sales: The March print was revised sharply higher - to 444K from 417K. April sales were 2.3% higher than March and 29% higher than a year ago. The median sales price was $271.6K, the average $330.8K. Inventory stands at 156K, representing a supply of 4.1 months. Homebuilders ETF (XHB -0.4%). (full report) Comment!
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9:45 AM The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rises to -29.4 from -30.2 last week. Notably, the index climbed to -20.7 among homeowners, the highest level since January 2008 and 24 points higher than the level among renters. For the first time since November 2007, those earning $75K-$100K have joined those earning more than $100K in reporting a positive index score. Comment!
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8:40 AM More on jobless claims: The big decline nearly erases last week's large and unexpected jump, and will do nothing to ease concern about "tapering." The 4-week moving average is little-changed at 339,500. S&P 500 futures remain lower by 0.95%, but bond prices continue to give up some of their big early gains, TLT +0.3%. 3 Comments
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8:30 AM Initial Jobless Claims: -23K to 340K vs. 345K consensus, 363K prior (revised). Continuing claims -112K to 2.91M. 6 Comments
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