Daily Market Update 1/8/09

Rates were little changed Thursday as investors await details of President-elect Obama's planned stimulus package and tomorrow's release of Non-farm Payrolls data for December. In economic news, Weekly Jobless Claims fell unexpectedly to 467,000, far below consensus of 550,000. The Bank of England cut its benchmark rate to 1.5%, the lowest level since the bank was founded in 1694. The 30-year Fannie Mae net required yield hit a new low of 4.26%. Retail mortgage rates remain well above this level, indicating lenders are maintaining artificially high margins to limit volume due to capacity concerns. Rates to consumers may improve as swollen application pipelines are brought under control.