Rates Slightly Higher As Trade Tensions Remain in Focus

Mortgage rates edged up slightly this week, as the ongoing trade discussions between the U.S and China continued to dictate market movements.

For the third week in a row, a shortage of market-moving economic data releases kept the market’s focus on headlines emerging from the trade negotiations. The one event with the potential to drastically influence rates—the reading of the minutes from last month’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting—offered little in the way of new forward guidance, keeping bond yields, which dictate mortgage rates, at bay.

The U.S.-China trade tensions—along with other geopolitical issues such as Brexit and intensifying political tensions in the Middle East—have pushed rates downward in recent weeks. While substantial uncertainty remains, the pace of provocative headlines has subsided in recent days, which could result in some upward pressure on rates if the trend holds. A sharp rebound appears unlikely, but as long as the trade tensions don’t escalate and upcoming economic releases offer few surprises, modest rate increases appear likely in the immediate term.