Mortgage Rates Flat Amid Oil Price Declines

Mortgage rates remained flat this week, as a relatively light week of economic news and data releases, teamed with a collapse in oil prices and continued stock market volatility, resulted in modest rate movements.

With Wednesday’s consumer prices data release meeting consensus expectations, the focus this week was largely on the sharp declines in global oil prices. The market impacts of oil price declines can be difficult to measure. It could result in fear that price dives might spill over into lower inflation, thereby causing the Federal Reserve to put the brakes on expected interest rate hikes. Of course, cheaper oil prices could also spur consumer spending as Americans save at the pump.

For the time being, markets don’t appear to expect a durable impact on the U.S. economy from these drops in oil prices, nor from enduring uncertainty in the equities markets.

With just one week before Thanksgiving, and moving closer to the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting, markets are likely to keep a close watch on speeches from several Fed officials this week, including Chairman Powell.