Updated on February 7, 2012 11:28:04 AM EST EST
OpenClose Mortgage Software

There is no relevant economic data scheduled for today, but Fed Chairman Bernanke did speak to the Senate Budget Committee late this morning. As expected, he didn’t say anything that differed much from last week’s appearance before the House Committee. The biggest headline to come from this morning’s appearance was his reiteration to prevent the Europe crisis from derailing our economic recovery. Again, nothing new or surprising was said, so I don’t see it affecting today’s mortgage rates.

Today’s late morning movement raises the possibility of seeing further weakness in bonds this afternoon. This is especially true of stocks manage to extend their current gains. Accordingly, a small upward revision to mortgage rates later today is not out of the question. Unless something very unexpected happens, this revision will likely be minor, but should be taken into consideration if still floating an interest rate and closing in the very near future.

Tomorrow also has nothing of relevance scheduled in terms of economic releases. However, the first of this week’s two important Treasury auctions will take place tomorrow when 10-year Treasury Notes will be sold. It is the more important of the two as it will give us a better indication of demand of mortgage-related securities. The second sale comes Thursday when 30-year Bonds are sold. If the sales are met with a strong demand from investors, we should see the bond market move higher during afternoon trading tomorrow and/or Thursday. But a lackluster interest from buyers, particularly international investors, would indicate a waning appetite for longer-term U.S. securities and lead to broader bond selling. The selling in bonds would likely result in upward afternoon revisions to mortgage rates.

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