| Uncertainty, Tariffs, and Retaliation led the markets this week – I try not to use a lot of adjectives when I do these reports but it was a bloodbath on Wall Street this week! The Dow dropped 7.9%, the S&P dropped 9.1%, and the Nasdaq dropped 10%. The majority of the drop occurred on Thursday and Friday after Trump’s “Liberation Day” speech in the rose garden. In that speech, he detailed his tariff plans and outlined how much imports from each country would be charged. China immediately hit back with a 34% tariff on all imports coming from America. Over $6 Trillion was wiped out in two days.
Stock markets – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 38,314.56, down 7.9% from 41,582.90 last week. It is down 14% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 5,074.08 down 9.1% from 5,580.94 last week. The S&P is down 16% year-to-date. The Nasdaq closed the week at 15,587.08, down 10% from 17,322.99 last week. It is down 18.2% year-to-date. U.S. Treasury bond yields The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 4.01%, down from 4.27% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 4.41%, down from 4.64% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yields. Hiring picked up in March – The Department of Labor and Statistics reported that 228,000 new jobs were added in March, up from a revised 117,000 new jobs added in February. This number blew away economists that were surveyed and had forecasted 140,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%, from 4.1% in February. The labor participation rate increases slightly as more workers entered the workforce. Average hourly wages increased 3.8% at an annual rate in March, down from a 4.1% annual rate in February. For inflation this was mostly good news. The unemployment rate rising and wages falling slows consumer spending. More hiring does not. Next month the effects of government job cuts will begin to be reflected in the numbers. Mortgage rates – Every Thursday Freddie Mac publishes interest rates based on a survey of mortgage lenders throughout the week. The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of April 4, 2025, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.64%, nearly unchanged from 6.65% last week. The 15-year fixed was 5.82%, down from 5.89% last week. Rates dropped significantly on Thursday and Friday. The 30-year was approximately 6.5% at the end of the week. The graph below shows the trajectory of mortgage rates over the past year
Freddie Mac was chartered by Congress in 1970 to keep money flowing to mortgage lenders in support of homeownership and rental housing. Their mandate is to provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to the U.S. Have a Great Weekend! |
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