Good Tuesday AM from your Hometown Lender,

No data out today so markets are again left to their own devices and giving back what we gained yesterday. The lines of support are holding at the moment. Several Central Banks making rate decisions this week. Today was the bank of Japan which kept investors guessing over when it will shift policy after sticking with its negative interest rate for now while indicating it is getting more confident about hitting its long-sought inflation goal. The Japanese central bank maintained its -0.1% short-term rate and kept its yield curve control parameters intact at the end of a two-day meeting. With the hold, the BOJ retains its status as global outlier on policy, as the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank hint at rate cuts later this year. The yen strengthened against the dollar (adding to selling in bonds today) as investors looked for signs of when the Bank of Japan will exit from its ultra-loose monetary policy. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said certainty in the outlook is rising gradually. Tomorrow, the Bank of Canada is on the schedule and Thursday is the ECB (this will be the one to watch and I would not expect much positive from them in the way of rate cut news).

One industry piece to share today that isn’t surprising but I like quantifiable data:

Investor purchases of single-family homes in the U.S. tumbled 29% last year, as higher interest rates and record home prices compelled even deep-pocketed investment firms to pull back. Businesses large and small acquired some 570,000 homes in 2023, down from 802,000 in 2022, according to Parcl Labs, a real-estate data and analytics firm. Institutions have signaled that, for now, they see few opportunities to buy large numbers of homes in a market defined by tight inventory, high prices and slowing rent growth.

Please remain safe and healthy, make today great!