At the time I am writing this mortgage interest rates are marginally better than they were last Friday.
This week was a short week for the market as it was closed for Columbus Day on Monday. Overall it was quiet week in the market. No major news out of the US or Europe. Most days the rates started out worse but improved throughout the day to close slightly lower.
Today the Producer Price Index (PPI) came out. The PPI is an index that attempts to measure inflation. Inflation is one of the major concerns when rates are at these low rates. The report revealed that inflation was up, but if you excluded gasoline it was flat. Gasoline and food costs are often excluded from the report as they are considered highly volatile and the remaining data is called the core index. It was good news for rates that the core index was flat as it shows that these artificially low rates are not affecting inflation.
Tags: market preview, mortgage rates outlook, Producer price index