Consumer Confidence Index
Today’s only relevant economic data was May’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) at 10:00 AM ET. It came from the Conference Board, who is a private business research group and not a governmental agency. They announced a reading of 102.3 that was higher than the 99.8 that was expected but still lower than April’s upwardly revised 103.7. The decline is good news for rates because it indicates consumers are not as optimistic about their own financial situations as they were last month, meaning they are less likely to make a large purchase in the near future. However, since the reading came in higher than predicted, we need to label it slightly negative for bonds and mortgage pricing.