Most nights, Treasuries trade in fairly low volume in a fairly narrow range.  Last night’s range wasn’t much wider than normal, but most of the movement happened all at once. It was also accompanied by much higher volume than normal. These are surefire signs of the market reacting to data or news. In the current case, that news involved Chinese regulators asked banks to limit their exposure to Treasuries. This sounds more meaningful than it is, and domestic traders agreed when the trading day officially began at 8:20am ET.

Trump administration officials are exploring opening an antitrust investigation into US homebuilders as the White House sharpens its focus on tackling the country’s housing affordability crisis.

The Housing for the 21st Century Act includes provisions covering policy, manufactured homes and rural infrastructure introduced in a prior Senate proposal.

The FHFA chief told Fox an offering could be done near term – but may not be – while a Treasury official addressed conservatorship questions at an FSOC hearing.

Mortgage loan officer licensing saw its first rise since 2022 as Fannie Mae projects $2.4T in 2026 volume. Experts eye a market reset amid improving affordability.

The brokerage alleges Zillow uses “anticompetitive tactics” to bar listings that haven’t been posted to a local multiple-listing service, or MLS, within 24 hours of them being publicly marketed.

Mortgage application activity moved lower again last week, extending the pullback from January’s earlier burst of demand as weather disruptions and softening purchase activity weighed on overall volume. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that applications declined 8.9% for the week ending January 30. The Market Composite Index fell 8.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis, while rising 4% on an unadjusted basis, highlighting the continued volatility in weekly application data following a period of unusually strong activity earlier in the month. This week, purchase activity took center stage and drove much of the weakness. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index dropped 14% from the prior week, while unadjusted purchase applications increased 2% but were only 4% higher than the same week one year ago—lowest levels since November 2025 and the weakest annual increase since April 2025. Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist, pointed to Winter Storm Fern as a key factor, noting that widespread snowfall likely hampered homebuying activity across large parts of the country. Refinance volume also declined, though by a smaller margin. The Refinance Index fell 5% from the previous week but remained 117% higher than a year earlier. Despite mortgage rates edging modestly lower, Kan noted that the change was not significant enough to materially boost refinance demand.

In the bigger picture, the past two and a half weeks have been marked by a very narrow range in the bond market. Because bonds dictate mortgage rates, the latter have also been in a narrow range with average top tier 30yr fixed rates of 6.15-6.20%.  Yesterday’s employment-related data helped bonds improve. Many lenders made mid-day improvements to mortgage rates yesterday, but there was enough of a tailwind that the average lender was lower again this morning–now in line with the lower boundary of the recent range. Next Wednesday’s labor market data is a higher stakes event–one that could either bring rates back to the multi-year lows seen in January or push them up to the highest levels since December.

Potential Signs of GSE Buying as MBS Outperform

It was an uneventful day when it comes to scheduled data/events, and also pretty boring for the bond market in general. Most of the market’s volatility continues playing out in stocks, commodities, crypto, etc. The most notable development for our area of focus was the MBS outperformance. Specifically, MBS were up about 2 ticks (.06) in price in the 2pm hour while 5 and 10yr Treasuries were down at least 6 ticks (.19) in price. Some of the Treasury weakness could be viewed as an artificial byproduct of yesterday afternoon’s Treasury-specific late-day rally, but even if we factor that out, MBS are still outperforming. With no official buying schedule/report from GSEs, such instances of outperformance are some of the only clues we have as to MBS purchases taking place.  This doesn’t matter for any particular reason, but it addresses a frequently asked question.

Econ Data / Events

Consumer Sentiment (Feb)

57.3 vs 55 f’cast, 56.4 prev

Sentiment: 1y Inflation (Feb)

3.5% vs — f’cast, 4% prev

Sentiment: 5y Inflation (Feb)

3.4% vs — f’cast, 3.3% prev

U Mich conditions (Feb)

58.3 vs 54.9 f’cast, 55.4 prev

Market Movement Recap

08:34 AM modestly weaker overnight. MBS down 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr up 1.9bps at 4.199

11:14 AM MBS outperforming as Treasuries weaken.  10yr up 3.7bps at 4.217. MBS still down only 2 ticks (.06).

02:30 PM Best levels of the day for MBS, up 1 tick (.03). 10yd down 2.9bps at 4.21

Friday is the quietest day of the week in terms of scheduled econ data and events, with the relatively unimportant Consumer Sentiment being the only notable report. Bonds are roughly unchanged to start the session. Treasury yields are technically a few bps higher from yesterday’s 5pm levels, but right in line with 3pm (what many would argue to be the proper time to mark daily closing levels in Treasuries). Thursday’s trifecta of downbeat labor data piqued the market’s interest in next week’s big jobs report. But between now and then, Treasuries don’t seem overly eager to re-enter the sub-4.20% trading range.