Mortgage rates held steady Tuesday as the Fed began a two day FOMC meeting to discuss monetary policy. It is widely expected that the Fed will lower short term rates by 0.25% when it issues its policy statement tomorrow at 2:00 PM. In economic news, Pending Home Sales jumped 2.8% in June, well above the consensus forecast of 0.5%, and were 1.6% higher than one year ago. Falling mortgage rates were cited as a major factor in the larger than expected increase. The June PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, rose 0.2%, matching expectations. No other key data will be released today.