Stock markets – Stock markets ended the week with mixed results. The Nasdaq’s incredible 2023 rally may be stalling as it posted its second consecutive week of losses, up 30% for the year. The July Consumer Price Index (CPI), the broadest gauge of inflation, was released on Thursday. It showed that consumer prices rose 3.2% in July from one year ago. While higher than June’s 3%, it marketed the second lowest inflation level in two years. The monthly increase in the inflation level was attributed to rising housing costs. The CPI peaked at 9.1% in June of 2022. The Core CPI, which excludes food and energy was 4.7% in July, its lowest year-over-year inflation level since October 2021. On Friday the Producer Price Index, which tracks wholesale prices ticked up more than expected. We also saw bond and mortgage rates increase further this week. Mortgage rates follow U.S. Treasury yields which have spiked over the last two weeks following the downgrade of U.S. debt by rating company Fitch. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 35,281.40, up 6.4% from 35,065.62 last week. It is up 5.8% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 4,464.05, down 0.3% from 4,478.03 last week. It is up 16.3% year-to-date. The Nasdaq closed the week at 13,644.85, down 1.9% from 13,909.24 last week. It is up 30.4% year-to-date.
U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 4.16%, up from 4.05% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 4.27%, up from 4.21% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yields.
Mortgage rates – The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of August 10, 2023, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.96%, up from 6.90% last week. The 15-year fixed was 6.34%, up from 6.25% last week.
Real estate sales figures for July should be released at the end of next week by the California Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. You can get the July home sale data now at RodeoRE.com.