All The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes declined this week as the market firmed up in all the week’s sessions.
“It’s been somewhat range-bound, but this week it feels like we may be breaking out,” said Evan Rourke, portfolio manager at Eaton Vance. “It could be a false break, though.
“Institutional investors are indeed putting money to work, high-grades are very well bid,” he said. “But there’s still good cash on the sidelines. It’s been a nice week, with some good performance. Munis had a real nice tone to them today. It felt a little like a breakout day.”
Leading the new-issue market this week, Barclays Capital priced $657 million of bonds for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, including $608 million of Build America Bonds.
The deal was priced yesterday following a one-day postponement after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded MTA bonds to A3 from A2 on Wednesday.
Morgan Stanley also priced $405 million of bonds for the Massachusetts Education Finance Authority on Wednesday.
The Bond Buyer 20-bond index of 20-year general obligation bond yields declined three basis points this week to 4.36%, but it remained above its 4.30% level from two weeks ago.
The 11-bond index of higher-grade 20-year GO yields dropped two basis points this week to 4.08%. The index is still above its 4.02% level from two weeks ago.
The revenue bond index, which measures 30-year revenue bond yields, fell three basis points to 4.96%, but it remained above its 4.91% level from two weeks ago.
The Bond Buyer one-year note index, which is based on one-year tax-exempt note yields, declined five basis points this week to 0.44%. This is the lowest level for the index since Jan. 13, when it reached an all-time low of 0.43%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell six basis points this week to 3.60%, down from the 3.66% level it registered two weeks ago.
The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dropped five basis points this week to 4.53%, but it remained above its 4.50% level from two weeks ago.
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 5.34%, down two basis points from last week’s 5.36%.
