Most Indexes Down With Munis Flat or Firmer in Each Session

Nearly all The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes decreased this week, as municipals were either flat or slightly firmer in each of the week's sessions.

"It has been reasonably firm over the last week," said Michael Pietronico, chief executive officer of Miller Tabak Asset Management. "My guess is the anticipation of the stimulus bill being passed was taking some money off the sidelines, and it looks like that's continuing to a point today. I would say, though, that this stimulus rally is effectively priced in as of right now. So if anything is to be expected moving forward, it is perhaps a little profit-taking, specifically inside of 10 years on the curve, which seems a little on the richer side at the moment."

Pietronico added that, assuming the stimulus bill passes, the market will "tend to be more two-way in action" in the sessions following.

"Obviously it's been sort of a one-way train with few exceptions since the middle of December, but the market's attractiveness relative to Treasuries, for instance, is not as substantial as it was last year," he said. "So it'll be more volatile in both directions, and I would think the overall factor for muni performance moving forward will then turn to supply. What happens to supply historically in February and March is higher volume, so perhaps a little apprehension is going to seep into the market."

The Bond Buyer 20-bond index of GO yields declined seven basis points this week to 4.89%. This is the lowest level for the index since Jan. 15, when it was 4.80%.

The 11-bond index of higher-grade 20-year GO yields fell eight basis points this week to 4.66%. This is the lowest that the index has been since Jan. 15, when it was 4.59%.

The revenue bond index, which measures the yields for 25-year revenue bonds, declined seven basis points this week to 5.67%, which is the lowest level for the index since Sept. 25, 2008, when it was 5.56%.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield dropped 15 basis points this week to 2.75%, which is the lowest level for the note's yield since Jan. 22, when it was 2.58%.

The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond yield dropped 14 basis points this week to 3.49%. This is the bond's lowest yield since Jan. 22, when it was 3.25%.

The Bond Buyer one-year note index, which measures one-year tax-exempt note yields, rose two basis points this week to 0.79%. However, it remained below its level from two weeks ago, when it was 0.93%.

The weekly average yield to maturity on The Bond Buyer 40-bond municipal bond index finished at 5.63%, down 10 basis points from last week's 5.73%.

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