Rates inched lower Friday reflecting Thursday’s late rally in mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Yesterday, stocks fell sharply, boosting U.S. Treasurys and MBS’s. In economic news, the March Producer Price Index (PPI) jumped 0.5%, far above the consensus forecast of 0.1%. Core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy components, rose 0.6%, but was a tame 1.4% higher than one year ago. A monthly increase of 0.2% had been expected. Consumer Sentiment increased to 82.6, beating expectations. Investors showed little reaction to the data, focusing instead on weaker than expected corporate earnings reports. No other key economic data will be released today.