Mortgage Stocks Mixed After Rally

After following the broader market rally Wednesday, mortgage-related stocks were mixed on Thursday morning as a majority of the 20 stocks tracked by MortgageWire lost ground.All 20 of the mortgage stocks recorded price increases on Wednesday as soothing words on inflation from Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke were credited with sparking a 212-point rally in the Dow Jones industrial average. The largest gains (more than 3%) were reaped by Countrywide Financial Corp., homebuilder Kaufman & Broad; Fannie Mae; community and mortgage banker Franklin Bank; and builder and mortgage banker Centex Corp. As of midday Thursday, Countrywide and Fannie Mae had risen further, but Franklin Bank was down slightly and Kaufman & Broad and Centex were both down over 3%. Twelve of the 20 stocks were down and two were unchanged, while six continued to rally.