Mortgage Market Update

Stocks fell Thursday after rallying a day earlier, while energy prices steadied after soaring to multi-year highs.

The S&P 500 fluctuated between gains and losses, and the Nasdaq came under pressure in afternoon trading. The S&P 500 had jumped by 1.9% on Wednesday as each of the Dow and Nasdaq also advanced. The move higher came following affirmation from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that the central bank will take a measured approach to raising interest rates amid geopolitical uncertainty helped to momentarily appease volatile markets.

“Clearly, [with] the conflict in Ukraine and the sanctions potentially dampening global economic growth, that makes it more likely that the Fed would want to go a little more slowly,” Zaccarelli added. “But on the other hand, inflation is rising … It’s our concern that they will have to go for longer and higher than people are currently expecting.”

And a continued melt higher in energy prices has further stoked inflation concerns, though oil slowed a recent gain on Thursday. U.S. crude oil prices jumped above $116 per barrel to reach a more than decade high before retreating slightly, as investors monitored the potential energy-market fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And meanwhile Brent crude — the international standard — rocketed further to near $120 per barrel.

And other data on the U.S. economy have pointed to a tight labor market, suggesting rising wages will also remain an ongoing contributor to inflation. ADP said Wednesday that U.S. private-sector payrolls grew by 475,000 in February, or well above the 375,000 jobs expected, following a jump of more than half a million jobs in January. The Labor Department’s official February jobs is due for release Friday morning, and is expected to show a 5.8% annual increase in average hourly earnings.