Weekly Indexes Mixed as Participants Focus on New Issues

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes were mixed this week as market participants focused on new issues.

"The real focus of the week was the primary calendar kicking back into gear," said Evan Rourke, portfolio manager at MD Sass. "We saw some good demand on the new-issue paper. It kind of brought out some buying interest, which gave the market some support."

The municipal market was weaker by three or four basis points Friday, after a stronger than expected April non-farm payrolls report. Employers cut 20,000 jobs in April, after slashing a revised 81,000 the previous month. Economists polled by IFR Markets had predicted that 75,000 jobs were lost in April.

Munis ended the session unchanged Monday, coming off early lows. Tax-exempts drifted back to flat later in the session after spending much of the morning weaker by as much as two or three basis points.

The muni market was then largely unchanged Tuesday, despite early session gains. In the new-issue market, Siebert, Brandford, Shank & Co. priced $385.2 million of water supply system bonds for Detroit.

Wednesday, tax-exempts were unchanged to slightly weaker, as most of the week's largest new issues were priced in the primary market. Morgan Stanley priced $431 million of tax-exempt and taxable electric revenue bonds for North Carolina Municipal Power Agency No. 1, Citi priced $429 million of general obligation bonds for Hawaii, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey competitively sold $400 million of consolidated bonds to Citi.

Yesterday, the municipal market was firmer by two to three basis points, following the Treasury market.

The Bond Buyer 20-bond index of GO yields fell one basis point this week to 4.62%, its lowest level since April 17, when it was also 4.62%.

The 11-bond index dropped two basis points to 4.54%, its lowest level since April 17, when it was 4.53%.

The revenue bond index was unchanged at 5.07%.

The 10-year Treasury note rose four basis points to 3.79%, but remained below its 3.84% figure from two weeks ago.

The 30-year Treasury bond rose six basis points to 4.55%, but remained below its 4.56% figure from two weeks ago.

The Bond Buyer one-year note index rose one basis point to 1.93%, its highest level in nearly two months, since when it was 2.07% on March 12.

The weekly average yield to maturity on The Bond Buyer 40-bond municipal bond index finished at 5.06%, up five basis points from last week's 5.01%.

 

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