Minutes from the last Fed meeting affirm obvious coronavirus concerns and underscore the Fed's recent actions to keep rates low.

Stocks have continued to rally after hitting a pandemic low in March, with some indices reaching new highs. However, mortgage rates have not risen, as often happens when stocks rally.

Continuing unemployment claims fell last week, though initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose back above 1 million, perhaps signaling a setback for the struggling job market.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes jumped 6 points to 78 in August, a record high for the NAHB Housing Market Index.

Homebuilding picked up for a 3rd straight month in July, with residential starts jumping by 22.6%. Construction surged at the highest rate since 2016, beating expectations.

Permits for future construction increased 18.8%, the most since January 1990. The 1.5 million annual rate topped the median estimate and is now above the February pre-pandemic rate.