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Daily Market Update 12/6/13

Rates were little changed Friday in extremely volatile trading following the November Employment Report.  Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) initially fell sharply on news that the economy added 203,000 jobs last month, easily beating forecast, but later rebounded to show modest gains.  Stocks rallied broadly.  The Unemployment Rate declined to 7.0%, below the consensus of 7.2%.  Average Hourly Earnings matched expectations with a small increase.  The Core PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, increased 0.1% and was a tame 1.1% higher than one year ago.  Personal Income declined by 0.1%, well below forecast.  Consumer Sentiment jumped unexpectedly to 82.5, far above expectations.  Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, a well-known inflation hawk, told CNBC “it would be wise if we began to get rid of the (quantitative easing) program” following the jobs report.  Bond investors have largely shrugged off the report, evidently deciding that today’s news was not strong enough to justify further reductions in MBS prices.  No other key data will be released today.  Mortgage Network may be closing early this afternoon due to weather conditions.  Drive safely and have a great weekend!

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