Trump nominates Pulte as FHFA director

During a confirmation hearing, Bessent called for less regulation on banks and criticized credit card companies, although he stopped short of endorsing a campaign pledge by President-elect Trump to cap credit card interest rates at 10%.

A planned implementation of new credit score requirements for single-family loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie has been paused in response to industry feedback, FHFA announced.

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 7.04% this week. The rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.27%.

Builder confidence in the market for single-family homes in January was 47, up from 46 the previous month, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

Business inventories in November 2024 came in at $2.59 trillion, up 0.1% from the month prior and up 2.6% from a year ago, the Commerce Department said.

Retail and food service sales for December 2024 were $729.2 billion, up 0.4% from the previous month and up 3.9% from a year ago, the Commerce Department said.