VENTURE CAPITAL POST

A two-day policy meeting of US Federal Reserve will conclude on Wednesday. US Fed Chair Janet Yellen is expected to keep short-term interest rate unchanged for now and may go for a hike in June.

Beating market predictions, industrial production in Japan rose during January 2016. On the other side, retail sales eased 1.1 percent. The mixed situation in the world's third largest economy is signaling ongoing uncertainty about GDP growth rate.

Contrary to earlier bullish predictions for 2016, several Wall Street strategists have started lowering their forecasts on S&P 500 stocks. The Chinese economy slowdown, volatile oil prices and interest rates are the major reasons for drop in forecast. The gap between highest and lowest forecast has been widening.

The major factors such as oil price fall, economy growth concerns and uncertainty in stock markets are keeping more pressure on mortgage rates in the US market. The average US rate on long-term mortgage dropped for three weeks in a row to 3.81 percent. The average rate on 15-year mortgages dropped to 3.10 percent from 3.19 percent.