Powell Avoided Throwing Cold Water on Rate Outlook. Bonds Approved

Powell Avoided Throwing Cold Water on Rate Outlook. Bonds Approved

Today's gains ended up being all about Powell's press conference. While there were a few potentially friendly comments (current rates in high end of neutral range, recent job gains overstated, no decision yet on January, inflation coming down), we can also consider that Powell simply avoided the same sort of hawkish reminders seen in the last press conference.  On a day where bonds had already been selling fairly aggressively for 2 weeks, this could be all the market needed to breathe a sigh of relief and reinforce the ceiling of the prevailing trading range. All in all a fairly tame Fed day reaction, but one with a happy ending nonetheless. 

Market Movement Recap
08:46 AM

Slightly weaker overnight and little-changed so far. 10yr up 1.1bps at 4.197. MBS up 2 ticks (.06).

11:29 AM

Best levels of the day. MBS up 7 ticks (.22) and 10yr down 2.4bps at 4.162

02:40 PM

No major volatility since Fed announcement.  Slightly weaker as Powell begins speaking.  MBS still up a quarter point. 10yr down 1.3bps at 4.176

03:09 PM

MBS up 3/8ths and 10yr down 4.1bps at 4.145.

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Powell Avoided Throwing Cold Water on Rate Outlook. Bonds Approved

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.0 99.49 +0.08 10YR 4.125% -0.025% 12/11/2025 12:01AM EST
Bonds have reversed the initial press conference weakness and are now at their best levels of the day with MBS up 3/8ths and 10yr down 4.1bps at 4.145.    READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed 6.30% -0.05% 15YR Fixed 5.80% +0.01% 12/10/2025
The Fed cut its policy rate by 0.25% today and mortgage rates moved lower after the announcement. That said, those two developments are not related. In fact, there was no movement in the bonds that underlie mortgage rates when the rate cut was announced. Instead, the market (and rates) moved in response to Fed Chair Powell's press conference. While there is a mistaken belief that such press conferences "always" result in upward pressure on rates, today shows they can go...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Thursday, Dec 11
8:30AM Sep Trade Gap (bl) Sep $-63.3B $-59.6B
8:30AM Oct PPI YoY Oct 2.7%
8:30AM Oct Core Producer Prices MM (%) Oct 0.1%
8:30AM Oct Producer Prices (%) Oct 0.3%
8:30AM Dec/06 Jobless Claims (k) Dec/06 220K 191K
8:30AM Nov/29 Continued Claims (k) Nov/29 1950K 1939K
1:00PM 30-Yr Bond Auction (bl) 22
1:00PM 30-Year Bond Auction 4.694%
Friday, Dec 12
8:00AM Fed Paulson Speech
8:30AM Fed Hammack Speech
10:35AM Fed Goolsbee Speech
Read My Latest Newsletter
December 10th will be the most interesting Fed announcement in more than a year.  It's the first time since mid-2024 where a rate cut (or lack thereof) has not been a foregone conclusion. This means the Fed has a chance, albeit a small one, to surprise the market.  The market currently sees a better-than-85% chance of a cut at next week's meeting according to Fed Funds Futures (contra... READ MORE