Munis Firmer With More of the Same

The municipal market remained slightly firmer Thursday amid light to moderate secondary trading activity.

“We definitely feel firmer,” a trader in Los Angeles said. “It’s just more of the same of what we’ve been seeing the past few weeks. Market feels stronger, and we’re probably up a good one or two basis points, particularly on the longer end. On the short end, we might be fairly flat, but overall I’d say we’re firming up a little bit again.”

The Treasury market showed some gains Thursday. The benchmark 10-year note finished at 2.91% after opening at 2.95%. The 30-year bond finished at 4.06% after opening at 4.08%. And the two-year note finished at 0.54% after opening at 0.57%.

The Municipal Market Data triple-A scale yielded 2.56% in 10 years and 3.62% in 20 years Wednesday, following levels of 2.57% and 3.64% on Tuesday. The scale yielded 3.95% in 30 years Wednesday, matching Tuesday.

Thursday’s triple-A muni scale in 10 years was at 88.0% of comparable Treasuries and 30-year munis were at 97.3%, according to MMD, while 30-year tax-exempt triple-A general obligation bonds were at 105.1% of the comparable London Interbank Offered Rate.

In the new-issue market Thursday, Barclays Capital priced $338.5 million of bonds for North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority in two series.

Bonds from the $245.7 million Series A mature from 2011 through 2030, with term bonds in 2032 and 2036. Yields range from 0.61% with a 3% coupon in 2012 to 4.45% with a 5% coupon in 2036.

Bonds maturing in 2011 were decided via sealed bid. The bonds are callable at par in 2020.

Bonds from the $92.8 million Series B mature from 2011 through 2027, with yields ranging from 0.66% with a 3% coupon in 2012 to 3.98% with a 5% coupon in 2027. The bonds are callable at par in 2020.

The credit is rated Aa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA-minus by Fitch Ratings.

Citi priced $169.8 million of general obligation bonds for the San Diego Unified School District in three series. Pricing information was not available by press time.

In Wednesday’s retail pricing, bonds from the $83.6 million series of capital appreciation bonds mature from 2030 through 2045, with yields to maturity ranging from 6.15% in 2030 to 6.66% in 2045.

Bonds from the $5.2 million series of CABs mature from 2045 through 2047, with yields to maturity ranging from 6.66% in 2045 to 6.71% in 2047. Bonds from the $75 million series of convertible CABs mature from 2047 through 2050, all yielding 6.50%.

In Thursday’s institutional pricing, the series were increased to $83.7 million, $11.0 million, and $75.0 million, respectively.

The bonds are rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA by Standard & Poor’s.

Citi priced $159.1 million of bonds for the Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank. Pricing information was not available by press time.

The bonds mature from 2019 through 2030, with term bonds in 2035 and 2040.

The credit is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by Standard & Poor’s.

Morgan Keegan & Co. priced $55.9 million of unlimited-tax school building and refunding bonds for Texas’ Allen Independent School District.

The bonds mature from 2016 through 2036 with terms in 2040. Yields range from 1.71% with a 5% coupon in 2016 to 4.35% with a 4.25% coupon in 2040.

The bonds, which are callable at par in 2020, are backed by the Texas Permanent School Fund guarantee program. The underlying credit is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by Standard & Poor’s.

Piper Jaffray & Co. priced $54.4 million of revenue refunding bonds for the South Dakota Health and Education Facilities Authority.

The bonds mature from 2011 through 2024, with term bonds in 2027 and 2028. Yields range from 0.90% with a 2% coupon in 2011 to 4.87% with a 5% coupon in 2028.

The bonds, which are callable at par in 2020, are rated A1 by Moody’s.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced $30.2 million of utility revenue refunding bonds for Florida’s Jupiter Island Utility System.

The bonds mature from 2015 through 2025, with term bonds in 2030 and 2039. Yields range from 2.00% with a 3% coupon in 2015 to 4.61% with a 5% coupon in 2039.

The bonds, which are callable at par in 2020, are rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by Standard & Poor’s.

In the competitive market, the Iowa Board of Regents sold $28.2 million of academic building revenue bonds to Robert W. Baird & Co. with a true interest cost of 3.97%.

The bonds mature from 2016 through 2028, with term bonds in 2030, 2032, and 2035. Coupons range from 3% in 2016 to 4.125% in 2035. None of the bonds were formally re-offered.

The bonds, which are callable at par in 2020, are rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by Standard & Poor’s.

Finally, Texas’ Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District competitively sold $20 million of tax anticipation notes to BOSC Inc. with a TIC of 0.26%. The Tans mature in June 2011 with a 1.5% coupon. They were not formally re-offered. The credit is rated F1 by Fitch.

In economic data released Thursday, initial jobless claims increased to 479,000 for the week ending July 31. Continuing claims fell to 4.537 million for the week ending July 24. Economists had expected 453,000 initial claims and 4.540 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.

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