From the Desk - Economic Commentary
Brandon Casey, Member Strategies - 11/19/2025
U.S. stocks rallied on Wednesday as investors jumped back into technology stocks. The market is coming off a four-day slide as concerns built that AI valuations could be overvalued. It was the longest losing streak for the S&P 500 since August. Investors will look to the release of the October FOMC minutes later today for clues about the December Fed meeting.
Looking at economic data, the delayed report for the August trade balance showed the deficit narrowed to $59.6 billion, down from $78.2 billion the previous month. The deceit was expected to fall to $61.0 billion. Imports fell by 5.1%, while exports edged 0.1% higher.
Elsewhere, MBA mortgage applications fell 5.2% last week. The Purchase Index was down 2% and the Refinance index was down 7%. The report also showed that the average interest rate of a conforming 30-year mortgage increased three basis points to 6.37%, the highest level in four weeks.
Subscribe to our daily From the Desk newsletter to get economic commentaries and updated market rates sent directly to your inbox.
Subscribe Here