Mortgage rates held steady Thursday after moving higher late Wednesday. Yesterday the Fed indicated it will continue purchasing $85 billion worth of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities each month until the labor market improves significantly. This morning, weekly Jobless Claims rose to 336,000, which was lower than expected. Existing Home Sales increased to 4.98 million annual units, slightly below forecast. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said home prices rose 6.5% from January 2012 to January 2013, the largest annual increase since 2006. Leading Indicators increased 0.5%, in line with expectations. In Europe, the European Central Bank’s Governing Council said Cypress has until Monday to agree to an acceptable alternative plan in order to continue receiving emergency bailout funds and avoid bankruptcy. Global financial markets remained volatile. No other key data will be released today.