Mortgage rates ended higher for the 4th straight business day on Tuesday, but that wasn't necessarily destined to be the case this morning.  After last week's US/China trade announcements put upward pressure on rates heading into the 3-day weekend, some of the positivity was backtracked over the weekend.  This pushed stock prices and bond yields (aka "rates") lower to start the day, but the rate recovery didn't last long.

As news came in about improved odds for a Brexit deal, European bonds began losing ground quickly.  This, along with a strong performance in US stock markets, put pressure on US bonds throughout the morning (pressure on bonds = higher rates).  By the end of the day, most mortgage lenders had reissued rates that were closer to last Friday's.  

Tomorrow brings the week's only major economic report in the form of Retails Sales at 8:30am.  In general, if the report is much stronger than expected, is should keep upward pressure on rates.  If it's weaker, however, rates would have a better chance to recover.  Either way, geopolitical and trade-related headlines remain capable of causing plenty of intraday volatility.