Rates inched higher Thursday as a continued stock market rally has pressured mortgage-backed securities. Stocks surged yesterday following the Fed statement indicating that lower oil prices enabled the Fed to “be patient” with future rate increases. In today’s economic news, weekly Jobless Claims fell to 289,000, a bit below expectations. Leading Indicators rose 0.6%, beating forecast. The Philly Fed manufacturing index came in at 24.5. A reading of 25.0 had been expected. No other key data will be released today.