Huge Overnight Gains on Trade War Escalation; Jobs Report an Afterthought

Huge Overnight Gains on Trade War Escalation; Jobs Report an Afterthought

Despite today being "jobs report Friday," and despite the jobs report perennially having the power to cause big volatility for financial markets, overnight developments proved to be far more consequential.  Specifically, China's announcement of retaliatory tariffs send stocks and bond yields into a swan dive at 6am ET.  The stronger jobs report ended up having very little impact by comparison.  Even now, trade headlines regarding Trump's call with Vietnam are doing more to move markets than econ data. Bonds are still stronger, but not as strong as they were in the early morning hours. 

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Big, Early Rally, Then Flat All Day

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.5 100.32 -0.06 10YR 4.005% -0.024% 4/4/2025 5:00PM EST
Despite today being "jobs report Friday," and despite the jobs report perennially having the power to cause big volatility for financial markets, overnight developments proved to be far more consequential.  Specifically, China's announcement of retaliatory tariffs send stocks and bond yields into a swan dive at 6am ET.  The stronger jobs report ended up having very little impact by comparison.  Even now, trade headlines regarding Trump's call with Vietnam are d...   READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed 6.60% -0.03% 15YR Fixed 6.02% -0.03% 4/4/2025
Yesterday afternoon's tariff announcement sent financial markets on a ride that ultimately resulted in sharply lower stock prices and moderately lower bond yields. Stocks don't always correlate with bond yields, but that has been a common pattern since late February. The correlation between bond yields and mortgage rates , on the other hand, is perpetual and nearly flawless. After all, "yield" is just another word for "rate."  Additionally, mortgage rates are based on...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Friday, Apr 04
8:30AM Mar Participation Rate Mar 62.5% 62.4%
8:30AM Mar Average earnings mm (%) Mar 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
8:30AM Mar Non Farm Payrolls (k) Mar 228K 135K 151K
8:30AM Mar Unemployment rate mm (%) Mar 4.2% 4.1% 4.1%
11:25AM Fed Chair Powell Speech
12:00PM Fed Barr Speech
12:45PM Fed Waller Speech
Monday, Apr 07
10:30AM Fed Kugler Speech
3:00PM Feb Consumer credit (bl) Feb $-0.81B $15.2B $18.08B
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Heading into the week, market watchers knew (or thought they knew) that Friday's PCE inflation data had a chance to help or hurt interest rates more than any other economic report.  When PCE came out higher than expected on Friday morning, market watchers knew (or thought they knew) what would happen next.  But instead, the opposite happened.    Events like this se... READ MORE