It has been another rough week for mortgage rates. Volatility has been high. The market action was driven almost entirely by expected policy changes under the Trump administration. Mortgage rates rose during the week to the highest levels of the year.

The unexpected results in the Presidential election caused significant volatility in the markets, both overnight as the likelihood of a Trump victory grew and the next couple of days as investor expectations for the U.S. economy under Trump became the focus. Mortgage rates ended the week at the highest levels of the year, and the Dow stock index reached a record high.

Over the past week, the meeting of the Bank of England and news related to the U.S. election were the main influences on mortgage rates. The U.S. economic data had little impact. The net result was that mortgage rates ended the week a little lower.

Over the past week, events outside the U.S. caused global bond yields to move higher. The U.S. economic data had little impact. As a result, mortgage rates ended the week at the highest levels since the middle of June before the UK voted to exit the European Union.

Both central bankers and economic data influenced mortgage rates over the past week. Comments from the top two Fed officials caused some volatility but had little net impact. Weaker than expected inflation data was favorable. As a result, mortgage rates ended the week a little lower.