Nearly all of the Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes were flat to higher this week as losses during the second half outweighed earlier minor gains.
"Early on in the week, we were seeing a little bit of positive momentum, but we're finishing it out a little softer," said Evan Rourke, portfolio manager at Eaton Vance. "There were a couple of bid-wanteds from fund-type investors, a little bit of weakness on the long end. It's been a week where the tone went from very good to a little queasier."
Rourke also noted that the light slate of new-issue activity this week was "absorbed in reasonably good fashion." He said the week's largest deal, the New York City Transitional Finance Authority's $775 million deal on Wednesday, was "well received, but wasn't a riot."
The Goldman, Sachs & Co.-led issue has maturities from 2013 through 2035 with a high yield of 5.20%, 46 basis points over that day's triple-A Municipal Market Data scale.
Also this week, North Carolina competitively sold $500 million of debt to Wells Fargo Securities, with a high yield of 4.83% in 2030, 26 basis points over the MMD triple-A scale.
Though tax-exempts maturing inside of 20 years showed gains through the early part of the week, long munis have been flat to weaker since Monday. Long-end losses were pronounced Wednesday and Thursday, about four basis points each session.
The Bond Buyer 20-bond index of 20-year general obligation yields was unchanged this week at 5.25%. The 11-bond GO index of higher-grade 20-year GO yields also was unchanged this week at 5.00%.
The revenue bond index, which measures 30-year revenue bond yields, rose two basis points this week to 5.63%, but it remained below its 5.66% level from two weeks ago.
The Bond Buyer one-year note index, which is based on one-year tax-exempt note yields, rose two basis points this week to 0.56%. This is the highest level for the index since Jan. 5, when it was 0.57%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note increased 16 basis points this week to 3.56%. This is the highest the yield has been since April 29, 2010, when it was 3.74%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond gained 10 basis points this week to 4.67%, the highest the yield has been since April 15, 2010, when it was 4.72%.
The weekly average yield to maturity on The Bond Buyer's 40-bond municipal bond index, which is based on 40 long-term muni bond prices, declined seven basis points this week to 5.74%. This is the lowest weekly average for the yield since the week ended Jan. 13, when it was 5.70%.
