Strong Holiday Retail Sales May Fuel Higher Mortgage Rates

By Stevie Duffin Updated on 12/11/2014

MBS are in weaker territory today than they were yesterday, partly thanks to strong retail sales data this morning. Holiday shopping in November likely helped retail sales numbers jump 0.7 percent from October. It might sound slight, but that's the biggest leap in eight months. Watch for rising mortgage interest rates. 

Also on today's plate, but with lesser market-moving influence, are import prices and jobless claims. Largely supported by tanking petroleum product costs, import prices fell to their lowest in over two years in November - 1.5 percent - but the drop was less than the 1.8 percent economists had predicted. Jobless claims also fell in the latest week, and below the 295,000 expected at 294,000. The lower unemployment benefits requests numbers are inline with surging employment gains in november.

Bookmark this page for daily mortgage interest rates and market updates.

• 30 year (FRM) rates at 3.87 (-0.01).
• 15 year (FRM) rates at 3.13 (-0.01).
• FHA 30 year Fixed rates at 3.35% (-0.05).
• Jumbo 30 year Fixed rates at 3.71% (-0.01).
• 5/1 ARM rates at 3.22% (-0.02).