Fed day data roundup: Housing starts, mortgage demand, current account
Main U.S. indexes modestly green
Tech leads S&P 500 sector gainers; Real Est weakest group
Euro STOXX 600 index up ~0.1%
Dollar up; crude up >1.5%; gold dips; bitcoin off >2%
U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield edges up to ~4.40%
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FED DAY DATA ROUNDUP: HOUSING STARTS, MORTGAGE DEMAND, CURRENT ACCOUNT
A smattering of data on Wednesday, which was largely ignored by Fed-obsessed investors, brought mixed signals from the housing sector. Indeed, both the S&P 500 index .SPX and the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield US10YT=RR are both just barely higher on the day.
Groundbreaking on new American homes USHST=ECI fell by 1.8% last month to 1.289 million units at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR), landing 4.0% below consensus.
A closer look at the Commerce Department's report shows a 23.2% drop in multiple family projects was largely responsible for the shortfall. Single-family starts actually increased by 6.4%.
"The jump in single-family starts is less impressive than it at first appears because it entirely reflects a leap in starts in the South, which probably were held back in October by Hurricane Helene and Milton," writes Oliver Allen, senior U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "Single-family starts in the rest of the country, which look through these weather effects, have clearly turned lower recently, reversing their gains over the summer."
On a brighter note, building permits USBPE=ECI, considered among the more forward-looking housing market indicators, jumped 6.1% to 1.505 million units SAAR, or 5.2% above analyst estimates.
The cost of financing home loans inched up last week, leaving would-be borrowers, on balance, unimpressed.
The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) average 30-year fixed contract rate USMG=ECI heated up by 7 basis points to 6.75%.
While that didn't faze would-be homebuyers - applications for loans to purchase homes USMGPI=ECI increased by 1.4% - refi demand USMGR=ECI dropped 2.6%, resulting in a softening in overall mortgage activity of -0.7%.
"Overall mortgage application activity decreasing for the first time in five weeks," says Joel Kan, MBA's Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. "Buyers remained active in the purchase market, helped by gradually improving inventory conditions and a more positive outlook on the economy and job market."
The 30-year fixed rate was a mere 8 bps cooler than the same month last year. Over the same time period, purchase demand has risen 5.6%, while refi applications have increased by 41.1%.
Finally, the U.S. current account deficit USCURA=ECI, which totals all international transactions including trade, investment and net payment transfers, widened by 13.1% in the third quarter.
(Stephen Culp)
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FOR WEDNESDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:
U.S. INDEXES EDGE UP BEFORE FED - CLICK HERE
BENCHMARK TREASURY YIELD TILTING HIGHER AHEAD OF FED - CLICK HERE
WHAT IS STRATEGIC ABOUT A BITCOIN RESERVE? - CLICK HERE
UK INFLATION: HOW MUCH DID OPTICIANS SPEND ON THURSDAYS? - CLICK HERE
RELEASING GERMANY'S FISCAL STRAIGHTJACKET - CLICK HERE
DEALS THE DRIVING FORCE - CLICK HERE
EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: DON'T THEY KNOW ITS CHRISTMASTIME? - CLICK HERE
MORNING BID: FED LOOMS AND EUROPE GETS INFLATION DATA - CLICK HERE
Housing starts and building permits https://reut.rs/3P1WG6t
Current account https://reut.rs/3DigEaC
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