Retail Sales
Tomorrow has three pieces of data that may affect mortgage rates, including one that is considered highly important to the markets. That will be March's Retail Sales data at 8:30 AM ET. This Commerce Department report gives us a measurement of consumer spending, which is extremely important because that category makes up over two-thirds of the U.S. economy. Forecasts are calling for a large increase of 5.4% in spending, fueled by the economic stimulus checks that went out last month. A jump of that size would normally be concerning to the bond market. However, since it is artificially boosted by the stimulus funds, we shouldn’t see a noticeable reaction unless the increase was much higher or lower than expected. The weaker the level of spending, the better the news it is for mortgage pricing.