The municipal market was unchanged to slightly weaker yesterday. Traders said tax-exempt yields on the short and intermediate parts of the curve were unchanged, with some scattered weakness on the long end of the curve.
Barclays Capital priced $723 million of new-money and refunding bonds for the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority in two series, including $504 million of taxable Build America Bonds. Of the $219 million tax-exempt refunding, final yields ranged from 1.20% in 2012 to 4.23% in 2027, according to a press release. Pricing information on the BABs was not available by press time. The credit is rated Aa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, AA-plus by Standard & Poor’s, and AA by Fitch Ratings.
“There’s maybe a little bit of weakness out long, but there’s not a whole lot of movement,” a trader in New York said. “Inside of 20 years, I’m not really seeing much happening at all. Out maybe 15, 20 years and beyond, we’re maybe down a basis point or so. But overall, I’ll say unchanged to maybe down a basis point in spots.”
“There’s definitely a weaker tone out there,” a trader in Los Angeles said. “We’re maybe off a basis point, maybe two, out on the long end, but we’re totally flat elsewhere. There is some trading going on, but it’s been a pretty quiet day. There’s a lot of new issuance on the horizon, but that doesn’t really kick off until tomorrow. But that’ll definitely be the story as we continue on this week.”
The Treasury market showed some gains yesterday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note opened at 3.55% and was quoted near the end of the session at 3.46%. The yield on the two-year note opened at 1.03% and was quoted near the end of the session at 0.94%. The yield on the 30-year bond was quoted near the end of the session at 4.29% after opening at 4.36%.
Yesterday’s Municipal Market Data triple-A scale yielded 3.05% in 10 years and 3.76% in 20 years, following levels of 3.05% and 3.74%, respectively, Monday. The scale yielded 4.13% in 30 years yesterday, following Monday’s level of 4.09%.
As of Monday’s close, the triple-A muni scale in 10 years was at 85.2% of comparable Treasuries, according to MMD, while 30-year munis were 93.4% of comparable Treasuries. Thirty-year tax-exempt triple-A rated general obligation bonds were at 95.6% of the comparable London Interbank Offered Rate.
Elsewhere in the new-issue market yesterday, Louisiana competitively sold $319 million of bonds in two series. Barclays won the larger $200 million series, with a true interest cost of 3.95%. The bonds mature from 2010 through 2029, with yields ranging from 1.30% with a 4% coupon in 2012 to 4.29% with a 4.25% coupon in 2029. Bond maturing in 2010 were decided via sealed bid. Bonds maturing in 2011 were not formally re-offered. The bonds are callable at par in 2019.
Louisiana also sold a $119 million series to JPMorgan, with a TIC of 1.50%. Those bonds were slated to mature from 2010 through 2014 and are not callable. The bonds yield 1.27% in 2012, 1.70% in 2013, and 2.12% in 2014, all with 5% coupons. Bonds maturing in 2010 and 2011 were not formally re-offered. The credit is rated A1 by Moody’s and AA-minus by both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch.
Elsewhere in the competitive market, the District of Columbia competitively sold $500 million of GO tax and revenue anticipation notes. No further information on the sale was available by press time. The credit is rated MIG-1 by Moody’s, SP-1-plus by Standard & Poor’s, and F1-plus by Fitch.
JPMorgan priced $164.5 million of revenue refunding bonds for the Harris County, Tex., Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corp. The bonds mature from 2010 through 2020, with term bonds in 2025. Yields range from 1.70% with a 3% coupon in 2011 to 5.00% with a 5.625% coupon in 2025. Bonds maturing in 2010 were decided via sealed bid. The bonds are callable at par in 2019, except bonds maturing in 2025, which are callable at par in 2014. The credit is rated AA-minus by Standard & Poor’s.
JPMorgan also priced $93.8 million of educational facilities revenue bonds for the Missouri Health and Education Facilities Authority. The bonds mature in 2030 and contain a split maturity in 2039, yielding 4.00% with a 5% coupon, 4.65% with a 4.5% coupon, and 4.28% with a 5% coupon, respectively. The bonds, which are callable at par in 2019, are rated triple-A by both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
Trades reported by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board yesterday showed some losses. Bonds from an interdealer trade of taxable Wisconsin Build America Bonds yielded 5.46%, up two basis points from where they were sold Monday. A dealer sold to a customer Suffolk County, N.Y., 4s of 2027 at 4.32%, up one basis point from where they traded Monday. A dealer sold to a customer Illinois Finance Authority 5s of 2036 at 6.61%, one basis point higher than were they traded Monday. A dealer sold to a customer Dormitory Authority of the State of New York 5.125s of 2039 at 5.42%, even with where they were sold Monday.
Bonds from an interdealer trade of California’s insured Downey Unified School District 5.1s of 2028 yielded 5.11%, even with where they traded Monday. A dealer sold to a customer Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency 4.625s of 2029 at 4.76%, up two basis points from where they were sold Monday. A dealer bought from a customer New York 5s of 2035 at 4.42%, even with where they were sold Monday.
In economic data released yesterday, the consumer confidence index slipped to 47.7 in October from an upwardly revised 53.4 last month. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would rise to 53.5.
