Low mortgage refinance rates

* U.S. private sector payrolls report misses expectations * U.S. ISM services index falls in November * U.S.-China trade deal still in focus * Sterling gains lifts euro as well * Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh (Recasts adds new comment, U.S. data, FX table, updates prices, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The dollar fell to a one-month low on Wednesday, undermined by weaker-than-expected U.S. private sector job growth data that followed soft manufacturing numbers earlier in the week that fueled worries the world's largest economy could slip into recession. The U.S. currency also slid to a four-week trough versus the euro and earlier dipped to a two-week low against the yen before recovering to trade slightly higher on the day. "We have seen big U.S. data misses this week and that doesn't help dollar sentiment," said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto. A private survey showed on … [Read more...] about FOREX-Dollar falls to one-month low on weak U.S. data; trade deal in focus

The core inflation hikes seem to have tilted the balance in favour of no rate cut in this policy, says PK Gupta, MD, SBI in the RBI monetary policy. Excerpts from an interview with ETNOW. While everybody was looking at a 25 bps rate cut today, RBI delivered a shocker by pausing rate cuts. The view from the governor seems to be it is better to pause at this point of time and see what the government is going to do going forward in the Budget. Are you satisfied by the explanation that has been given today?The expectations were mainly built by the market for a rate cut based on the previous policy actions by the MPC for the last many months. Since the MPC had been taking a dovish stand, people expected a rate cut this time too. But, at the same time,inflation had spiked to 4.62% and as per the MPC estimate, it is expected to spike further up to 5.1% in the period up to March 2020. As the governor said, since one of the major objectives of the MPC is to target inflation, they felt that … [Read more...] about Expect rate cuts to continue once inflation comes down: PK Gupta, SBI

NEW DELHI: India Ratings on Wednesday lowered the country's growth forecast to six-year low of 6.7 per cent for the current fiscal from an earlier estimate of 7.3 per cent on account of slowdown in consumption and moderation in industrial growth among other factors. This would be the third consecutive year of subdued growth, India Ratings principal economist Sunil Kumar Sinha said here. Even on quarterly basis, he said, April-June is expected to be the fifth consecutive quarter of declining GDP growth at 5.7 per cent. Citing factors for moderation in growth, he said, it is mainly due to five reasons including a slowdown in consumption demand and manufacturing and delayed, uneven progress of monsoon so far. Besides, he said inability of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to resolve cases in a time-bound manner, and rising global trade tension adversely impacting exports are pulling down GDP numbers. At this pace of growth, the target of USD 5 trillion by 2024-25 seems to be a far cry, he … [Read more...] about India Ratings Cut GDP Forecast To 6.7 Per Cent For FY20

FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2019, file photo a sign stands outside a home for sale in southeast Denver. On Thursday, Dec. 5, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2019, file photo a sign stands outside a home for sale in southeast Denver. On Thursday, Dec. 5, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. Photo: David Zalubowski, AP Photo: David Zalubowski, AP Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Image 1 of 3 FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2019, file photo a sign stands outside a home for sale in southeast Denver. On Thursday, Dec. 5, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2019, file photo a sign stands outside a home for sale in southeast Denver. On Thursday, Dec. 5, Freddie Mac reports on this … [Read more...] about US long-term mortgage rates steady; 30-year loan at 3.68%

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst has received an AAA rating from Standard and Poor's Global Ratings for the sixth year in a row, the city announced in a news release Thursday. S&P affirmed its rating to the city's existing general obligation bonds. The AAA rating is the highest rating assigned to a governmental organization by S&P and reflects the city's strong economy, powerful budgetary flexibility and performance, and strong liquidity position and management, the news release said. The AAA rating is "very significant" in its ability to both issue new bonds and refinance existing debt at the lowest possible interest rates, the city said. In Illinois, only about 30 of 310 rated municipalities have an AAA rating, according to the release. Elmhurst's median household income is $104,222, much higher than the state's $61,222, according to the U.S. Census. Subscribe … [Read more...] about Elmhurst Gets Top S&P Rating