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By ALEX VEIGA, Associated Press

The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage held steady this week at its lowest level in nearly 10 months, an encouraging sign for prospective homebuyers who have been held back by stubbornly high home financing costs.

The long-term rate was unchanged from last week at 6.58%, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.46%.

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Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, edged lower. The average rate dropped to 5.69% from 5.71% last week. A year ago, it was 5.62%, Freddie Mac said. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump this week called on a Federal Reserve governor to resign over an accusation of mortgage fraud, the latest effort by his administration to exert greater control over one of the few remaining independent agencies in Washington.

Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook says she won’t leave her post.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, for not cutting its short-term interest rate, and even threatened to fire him. Powell, who will speak Friday at an economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, says the Fed wants to see how the economy responds to Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imports, which Powell says could push up inflation.

Powell’s caution has infuriated Trump, who has demanded the Fed cut borrowing costs to spur the economy and reduce the interest rates the federal government pays on its debt. Trump has also accused Powell of mismanaging the U.S. central bank’s $2.5 billion building renovation project. read more

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are edging lower on Thursday as Wall Street makes its final moves before the head of the Federal Reserve gives a highly anticipated speech on Friday that could hint at where interest rates are going.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.2% following four straight modest loss since it set an all-time high last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 101 points, or 0.2%, as of 10:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.

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Walmart was one of the market’s biggest movers and fell 4.4% after reporting a profit for the spring that came up short of analysts’ expectations, while Big Tech stocks were holding a bit steadier following two days of sharp swings. read more

By ALEX VEIGA, Associated Press Business Writer

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in July as homebuyers were encouraged by a modest pullback in mortgage rates, slowing home price growth and the most properties on the market in over five years.

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Existing home sales rose 2% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.01 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Sales edged up 0.8% compared with July last year. The latest sales figure topped the 3.92 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Home prices rose on an annual basis for the 25th consecutive month, although the rate of growth continued to slow. The national median sales price inched up just 0.2% in July from a year earlier to $422,400. read more

By Brian Baker, CFA, Bankrate.com

Making the decision to start investing is one of the best decisions you can make. Investing is an important step toward building wealth and achieving your financial goals. However, successful investing can be difficult and there are some key mistakes you’ll want to avoid.

Here are the top seven investment mistakes beginners make when they start investing.

1. Waiting to get started investing

There can be a lot of reasons not to start investing, especially when you’re early in your career. You may be starting with a relatively low salary, and you may not have a lot of extra savings each month to invest. But saving and investing whatever you can, even if it’s small, when you’re young will set you up for success down the road.

Money you invest in your 20s has more time to compound and grow than money you invest later on when you’re closer to retirement age. A $1,000 investment when you’re 22 years old that grows at 10% annually will be worth a little more than $45,250 when you’re age 62. If you wait 10 years to invest at age 32, that $1,000 turns into just $17,450 at age 62. Those first 10 years are important for compounding wealth. read more