The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes were mixed this week, as municipals were little changed following last week’s sell-off, which prompted a number of issuers to pull scheduled refunding deals from this week’s primary.
“The market has backed up to levels that will help clear some supply, although there is a substantial shadow calendar building right now of refunding deals that have been put off due to market conditions,“ said Michael Pietronico, chief executive officer at Miller Tabak Asset Management.
“To me, it seems the market is churning in place,” he said. “Demand is better than what it was three weeks ago due to the move-up in rates; however, the overhang of supply is the variable that’s keeping the market from appreciating much from here.”
Issuers such as Minnesota and Maryland pulled some refunding components of their scheduled deals this week, citing market conditions. Pietronico said that in order for the market to improve, those deals have to “come to the market and clear the market.”
“Essentially what you need from here is a bit of a snap-back rally before those deals can clear the market,” he said.
The Bond Buyer 20-bond index of 20-year general obligation bond yields declined one basis point this week to 4.31%, but remained well above the 4.06% level from two weeks ago.
The 11-bond index of higher-grade 20-year GO yields also fell one basis point this week to 4.04%, but remained considerably higher than its 3.80% level from two weeks ago.
The revenue bond index, which measures 30-year revenue bond yields, rose one basis point this week to 4.87%, marking the highest level since Sept. 17, when it was 4.98%.
The 10-year Treasury note fell five basis points this week to 3.42%, well above its 3.24% yield from two weeks ago.
The 30-year Treasury bond declined seven basis points this week to 4.24%, considerably higher than its 4.08% level from two weeks ago.
The Bond Buyer one-year note index, which is based on one-year tax-exempt note yields, declined three basis points this week to an all-time low of 0.54%. The previous record low was 0.56%, which was first achieved on Sept. 23.
The weekly average yield to maturity on The Bond Buyer’s 40-bond municipal bond index, which is based on 40 long-term municipal bond prices, finished at 5.15%, up seven basis points from last week’s 5.08%.
