April 21, 2021 Headlines

The Treasury rally stalled out this morning with rates essentially unchanged from yesterday’s close. US equity markets are pointing to a lower open this morning as concerns over new rounds of lockdowns in countries like Japan where the government is being asked to declare a state of emergency to get a hold on rising COVID-19 cases.

The MBA mortgage applications index increased by 8.6% last week, the prior week’s reading was down 3.7%. Purchase apps were up 5.7% while refis increased by 10.4%. Last week also saw the average 30-year rate fall by 7 bps to 3.20%. Despite last week’s uptick, refinancing activity has slowed when compared to last year which in turn has dampened MBS supply. However, the demand front has not really changed, with the Fed’s continuing to purchase $40 billion on a net basis and depositories continue to add on the margin as loan demand remains tepid. This supply and demand picture has put downward pressure on spreads and has resulted in a strong April for the sector.

Hafizan Hamzah
Director, Investment Management Group

Date Event Surv(M) Actual Prior Revised
04/21/21 MBA Mortgage Applications — 8.60% -3.70% —
04/22/21 Chicago Fed Nat Activity Index 1.25 — -1.09 —
04/22/21 Initial Jobless Claims 610k — 576k —
04/22/21 Continuing Claims 3640k — 3731k —
04/22/21 Langer Consumer Comfort — — 53.9 —
04/22/21 Leading Index 1.00% — 0.20% —
04/22/21 Existing Home Sales 6.14m — 6.22m —
04/22/21 Existing Home Sales MoM -1.40% — -6.60% —
04/22/21 Kansas City Fed Manf. Activity 28 — 26 —
04/23/21 Markit US Manufacturing PMI 61 — 59.1 —
04/23/21 Markit US Services PMI 61.5 — 60.4 —
04/23/21 Markit US Composite PMI — — 59.7 —
04/23/21 New Home Sales 885k — 775k —
04/23/21 New Home Sales MoM 14.20% — -18.20% —

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