TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and why mortgage rates are an issue for homebuyers.
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00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.
00:02Here's what we're watching on the street today.
00:05It was a choppy session on Wall Street Wednesday as investors gear up for Friday's monthly
00:09jobs report.
00:10Meanwhile, Albertson's beat quarterly earnings forecast in a sign of confidence after an
00:15abandoned merger with Kroger, a supermarket chain raised its outlook for 2025.
00:21Looking ahead, the stock market is closed Thursday and the bond market will have a shortened
00:26session to mark the passing of President Jimmy Carter.
00:30Turning now to other headlines, 2025 is not off to a good start for prospective homebuyers.
00:37Mortgage rates have risen four weeks in a row, hitting highs not seen since July.
00:42The average rate on a traditional 30-year fixed rate mortgage came in at 6.99 percent
00:48last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
00:52With mortgage rates backing up to roughly 7 percent, some buyers are getting scared
00:55away.
00:56Higher mortgage rates have been sticky, despite the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates
01:01by a full percentage point in 2024.
01:05So why the disconnect?
01:06Mortgage rates are currently being driven by what the market thinks the Fed will do
01:11rather than what the Fed has already done.
01:14While the next Fed move is still likely to be a cut, how many more cuts is up for debate.
01:21In recent minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting, participants indicated that
01:26the committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the
01:30pace of policy easing.
01:33With pockets of inflation heating up again, the job market stronger than thought and uncertainties
01:38around Trump's future tax and tariff policies, investors now expect interest rates to stay
01:44higher for longer.
01:46And that likely means the same for mortgage rates.
01:50That'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange.
01:53I'm Conway Giddens with the Street.