Japan Currency Intervention, Oil, and Data Causing Some Selling

Japan Currency Intervention, Oil, and Data Causing Some Selling

Japan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) and central bank (BOJ) are a bit more closely linked than Treasury and the Fed. For example, the MOF can instruct the BOJ to sell a bunch of securities to pop up the value of domestic currency. They did this in relatively grand fashion yesterday, but the selling didn't appear to involve Treasuries (as it sometimes does). Now in today's overnight session, there was another Yen-specific spike and this time, it lines up with the start of selling pressure in Treasuries. It's not extreme, and it correlated with Iran headlines causing oil prices to rise. If anything, the timing actually lines up better with oil. Last but not least, this morning's ECI data added a small but measurable amount of selling. 10yr yields are flirting with 4.7 and MBS are down just over an eighth--not massive weakness considering the inputs.

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MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.5
98.95
-0.36 
10YR TREASURY
4.738
+0.065 
7/31/2026 12:55PM EST
There's been another wave of Treasury selling that lines up with another surge in Yen values. Based on this morning's headlines, this suggests large scale efforts on the part of US institutions to sell Treasuries and buy JPY-denominated debt.  MBS are definitely not immune. 5.5 coupons are now down 3/8ths on the day and roughly an eighth of a point since many lenders' rate sheet print times.  Given that lenders were forced to price into a sell-off this morning...   READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed
6.83%
+0.06% 
15YR Fixed
6.32%
+0.01% 
7/31/2026
To be fair, mortgage rates haven't been far from their long-term highs in over a week, but today's 30yr fixed index level of 6.83% is functionally equivalent to the actual long-term high of 6.85% seen on July 23rd.   Higher rates are driven by weakness in the bond market. The latter can happen for many reasons. Sometimes those reasons are as simple as an economic report showing stronger job growth or higher inflation. Other times, the reasons are more esoteric. ...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Friday, Jul 31
8:30AM Q2 Employment costs (%) Q2 0.9% 0.8% 0.9%
9:45AM Jul Chicago PMI Jul 57.6 56 56.7
10:00AM Jul U Mich conditions Jul 54.8 54.9 47.7
10:00AM Jul Consumer Sentiment (ip) Jul 55.2 54.0 49.5
10:00AM Jul Sentiment: 1y Inflation (%) Jul 4.2% 4.2% 4.6%
10:00AM Jul Sentiment: 5y Inflation (%) Jul 3.3% 3.3% 3.3%
Monday, Aug 03
9:45AM Jul S&P Global Manuf. PMI Jul 53.8 53.9
10:00AM Jul ISM Mfg Prices Paid Jul 70 73.0
10:00AM Jul ISM Manufacturing PMI Jul 54 53.3
10:00AM Jul ISM Manufacturing Employment Jul 49.7
10:00AM Jun Construction spending (%) Jun 0.2% 0.1%
2:00PM Loan Officer Survey