Volatility Picked Up After a Slow Start

Volatility Picked Up After a Slow Start

This morning, more than halfway through the international trading day, bonds were on track for the narrowest trading range since February 24th. The low volatility didn't last. Sellers surfaced in response to several war-related headlines. Bond yields followed oil prices higher from 9am through 1pm ET.  That said, it was still a fairly light day of movement in bonds with MBS only losing about an eighth of a point depending on when you look and 10yr yields up 3bps at 4.31+ in the final hour of trading. 

Market Movement Recap
08:30 AM

Giving up overnight gains before data and no change since. MBS unchanged and 10yr down half a bp at 4.279 (up from lows of 4.265).

10:04 AM

10yr yields moved up 1bp back to unchanged levels of 4.281 and MBS are now down 1 tick (.03)

01:16 PM

MBS down an eighth. Lows of the day. 10yr up 3.1bps at 4.315. Highs of the day.

03:43 PM

Flat afternoon.  MBS down 3 ticks (.09) and 10yr up 2.4bps at 4.308

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Volatility Picked up After Slow Start

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.0 99.35 +0.04 10YR 4.274% -0.010% 4/15/2026 10:15PM EST
MBS are at new lows for the day, down roughly 0.05 from the previous low. This is enough of drop that we could see the first few jumpy lenders pull the trigger on a reprice. Risks are much lower for lenders who priced at 10am ET or later.   READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed 6.32% +0.00% 15YR Fixed 5.96% -0.01% 4/16/2026
On average, today's top-tier 30 year fixed mortgage rates are exactly the same as yesterday's. Rates are driven by the bond market and bonds continue waiting for bigger developments in the Iran war. At the moment, the market is in a sort of limbo as time remains on the 2-week ceasefire. In the meantime, there's a multitude of lower consequence war-related headlines on any given day. These have caused a bit of back and forth volatility in bonds, but not enough directional ...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Thursday, Apr 16
8:30AM Apr/11 Jobless Claims (k) Apr/11 207K 215K 218K
8:30AM Apr/04 Continued Claims (k) Apr/04 1818K 1810K 1794K
8:30AM Apr Philly Fed Prices Paid Apr 59.30 44.70
8:30AM Apr Philly Fed Business Index Apr 26.7 10 18.1
8:35AM Fed Williams Speech
9:15AM Mar Industrial Production (%) Mar -0.5% 0.1% 0.2%
10:35AM Fed Miran Speech
Friday, Apr 17
12:15PM Fed Barkin Speech
2:00PM Fed Waller Speech
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Whereas the entire month of March was "up, up, and away" for interest rates, April has been far calmer by comparison. The average lender ended the week in slightly lower territory and there was less volatility to boot. Refreshingly, the lower volatility means that weekly surveys were aligned with daily rates in showing the modest drop ( unlike last week ). That said, there's no question th... READ MORE