Swiss Bank Shocker Will Dictate Mortgage Rate Fate

By Stevie Duffin Updated on 1/15/2015

Mortgage bonds have had a significant rally today, no thanks to domestic data, which took a major back seat to overseas headlines today. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) surprised traders by ditching the franc currency's cap, sending it soaring above the euro, which fell to a nine-year low. Releasing the cap points to the SNB's belief that the European Central Bank (ECB) will be announcing its own bond buying or QE initiative in the coming week. Watch for falling mortgage interest rates. 

The latter half of this week will be most significant for economic reports. For more potential mortgage rate movers, check back tomorrow for CPI, a measure of inflation. 

Tuesday: Disappointing retail sales signaled good news for MBS buying. Mortgage bonds are currently going strong thanks to the combination of European headlines and the 0.9 percent drop in December retail activity. Economists had predicted retail sales to increase by 0.1 percent.

Watch for falling mortgage interest rates. Bookmark this page for daily mortgage rate updates:

• 30 year (FRM) rates at 3.62% (-0.06).
• 15 year (FRM) rates at 2.99% (-0.03).
• FHA 30 year Fixed rates at 3.25% (0.00).
• Jumbo 30 year Fixed rates at 3.59% (-0.02).
• 5/1 ARM rates at 3.21% (-0.02).