Range Breakout Intensifies. Chicken or Egg?

Range Breakout Intensifies. Chicken or Egg?

After months spent observing the same old range in the bond market, we're finally in the throes of a confirmed breakout. Unfortunately, the breakout has seen 10yr yields surge almost 10bps above the range ceiling in just 2 days. Technical analysts are high fiving each other because this is a classic breakout event (higher volume, sharper movement in the direction of the breakout). Fundamental traders are saying "not so fast" because there's nothing to say bonds couldn't be in decent shape today without fiscal drama in Japan or spiraling geopolitical tension over Greenland. We got unequivocal confirmation of the latter today when a Danish pension fund said it was pulling out of US Treasuries. That marked the day's biggest volume spike and sharpest selling.  

Market Movement Recap
08:37 AM

Sharply weaker overnight as bonds brace for fallout with Europe over Greenland push. 10yr up 6.1bps at 4.285.  MBS down nearly 3/8ths of a point.

10:43 AM

Bouncing back a bit. MBS down 5 ticks (.16) and 10yr up 4.7bps at 4.27

01:47 PM

MBS now down 10 ticks (.31) on the day and almost 6 ticks (.19) off intraday highs.  10yr up 6.2bps at 4.286.  No new drama.  Just gradual selling. 

Latest Video Analysis

Range Breakout Intensifies

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.0 99.81 +0.09 10YR 4.268% -0.028% 1/21/2026 3:20AM EST
MBS hit their highs of the day around 10:45am after rising from the lows seen around 8:20am.  That rally was nearly a quarter point.  But since then, we've lost almost 6 ticks (.19).   Most lenders price early enough in the day (10am or earlier) that they are not seeing more than 2 ticks (.06) of weakness. Those lenders are not at risk of negative reprices. But in the rarer cases of lenders posting prices closer to 11am, or in the few cases where len...   READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed 6.21% +0.14% 15YR Fixed 5.75% +0.15% 1/20/2026
Mortgage rates jumped sharply higher on Tuesday in response to weakness driven by geopolitical events and overseas financial markets. After hitting lows of 5.99% for a few hours on January 9th and spending last week in the low 6's, the average top tier 30yr fixed rate is back up to 6.21% today.  This matches the level seen the day before the announcement of the administration's $200 bln mortgage bond buying plans. The last time rates were higher was December 23rd.&nbs...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Wednesday, Jan 21
12:00AM Roll Date - Ginnie Mae 30YR
7:00AM Jan/16 MBA Refi Index Jan/16 1313.1
7:00AM Jan/16 Mortgage Market Index Jan/16 348
7:00AM Jan/16 MBA Purchase Index Jan/16 184.6
10:00AM Sep Construction spending (%) Sep -0.1% 0.2%
10:00AM Oct Construction spending (%) Oct 0.1%
10:00AM Dec Pending Home Sales (%) Dec -0.3% 3.3%
1:00PM 20-Yr Bond Auction (bl) 13
Thursday, Jan 22
8:30AM Jan/10 Continued Claims (k) Jan/10 1884K
8:30AM Jan/17 Jobless Claims (k) Jan/17 212K 198K
12:00PM Jan/16 Crude Oil Inventory (ml) Jan/16 3.391M
1:00PM 10-yr Note Auction (bl) 21
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First things first: if we take the last 5 days out of the equation, today's mortgage rates are still the lowest since early 2023. But they spent most of those last 5 days moving up from even lower levels. The changes are small in the big picture, but the distinction is important considering widespread reporting based on Freddie Mac's weekly rate survey. Freddie's data comes out on Thursdays and... READ MORE