Industry News
Mortgage Industry News
Employment Cost Index Up Slightly
01/31/2012
Treasury prices initially moved lower overnight but have leveled off this morning and are hovering near unchanged. The latest EU Summit in Brussels has reportedly made some progress on improving budgetary discipline, but the market has shown little reaction. The US economic calendar is fairly active today with data on US housing, consumer confidence and employment. The already released employment cost index was in line with expectations of a 0.4% increase in the 4th qtr. Next up will be the CaseShiller home price index (expected -0.4% vs prior -0.6% m/m), followed by the latest reading on consumer confidence, which is expected to improve to 68 from Dec level of 64.5. Currently, the 10yr yield is at 1.847% (1.835% Monday) and the 2-10 yield spread is at 172bps, unchanged since yesterday morning.
