The tax-exempt market was much stronger Monday morning, following last week's impressive gains, as a risk-off trade pushed Treasuries and other fixed-income markets much higher.
Munis were stronger Monday morning, according to the Municipal Market Data scale. Yields inside nine years were steady while the 10-year yield fell one basis point. Outside 11 years, yields fell as much as three basis points.
On
Treasuries neared record lows on Monday. The benchmark 10-year yield dropped four basis points to 1.45% while the 30-year yield plummeted five basis points to 2.53%. The two-year plunged three basis points to 0.23%.
In the primary market this week, $8.2 billion is expected to be priced, up from last week's revised $6.9 billion. On the negotiated calendar, $5.8 billion is expected to come to market, up from last week's revised $5.3 billion. In competitive deals, $2.4 billion is expected to be auctioned, up from last week's revised $1.6 billion.
On the competitive calendar, King County, Wash., is expected to auction $100.9 million of triple-A rated general obligation bonds.
In economic news,
"Although the weakness in nominal spending is overstated by the decline in energy prices, this is nonetheless a weak and disappointing retail sales report," wrote economists at RDQ Economics. "Most major categories of retail sales declined over the last three months and those that didn't posted slower gains than seen over the last year. The decline in spending coincides with the downshift in job creation and it is our belief that the outlook for employment is clouded by uncertainties over tax hikes at the beginning of 2013."