Esoteric Forex Drama Blasts Bonds, Maybe

Esoteric Forex Drama Blasts Bonds, Maybe

Friday was very much NOT on the beaten path of typical bond market considerations with most of the selling arguably stemming from Japanese currency intervention. We've seen similar episodes in the past, but  today's installment came with a twist. In addition to Japan confirming it was selling foreign bonds to prop up Yen values, the U.S. Treasury also apparently got involved. It warned dealers that it could make trades to support the Yen. No one but those involved knows if that means anything beyond using the ESF to execute currency trades, but the net effect seems to have been to grease the skids for U.S. accounts to sell Treasuries first and ask questions later. This isn't necessarily the final story either. It was also month-end, and it's also the week before the jobs report on a summertime Friday. Volume was fairly light relative to the size of the sell-off.

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Esoteric Forex Drama Blasts Bonds, Maybe

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.5
98.90
-0.40 
10YR TREASURY
4.741
+0.068 
7/31/2026 2:45PM 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