Thursday's sell-off in the stock market led to a "flight to quality", driving a strong rally in long term Treasury bond prices.
Falling bond yields over the last week finally started trickling through to the mortgage sector as the 30 year fixed rate mortgage average fell to 6.78%. The 15 year fixed rate average fell to 6.49%, while the one year ARM rate was unchanged at 5.61%.
The yield on the benchmark 30 year Treasury bond fell to a record low 5.34% on Thursday, a drop of 10 basis points, or 0.10%, from Wednesday.
Shock waves from accelerating instability in Russia swamped the stock market Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 357 points to close at 8165.99, a one day drop of over 4%. The carnage was not limited to blue chips, as the NASDAQ composite fell over 4.5% and S&P 500 index lost just under 4%.
Published: August 28, 1998
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