Market Post: After Long Weekend, Market Opens Quietly

The tax-exempt market struggled to gain momentum Monday morning after a long, Turkey-filled weekend.

Municipal bond traders appeared to be too stuffed to trade as the market was quiet. "It's pretty slow," a New York trader said, adding that not a lot was going on the market. "It's trading steady."

In the primary market this week, municipals can expect $7.92 billion to be issued, up from last week's revised $2.29 billion. On the negotiated calendar, $5.82 billion is expected to be priced, up from last week's revised $2.01 billion. In competitive deals, $2.10 billion should be auctioned, up from last week's revised $276.4 million.

Last week, the Thanksgiving holiday-shortened week ended steady to slightly weaker. On Friday, the 10-year Municipal Market Data yield held steady at 1.53%, hovering above the record low of 1.50% set Nov 16.

The 30-year MMD yield remained unchanged for the fifth session at its record low of 2.54% set Nov. 16. The two-year finished steady at 0.30% for the 40th consecutive trading session.

Yields have fallen dramatically since the beginning of the month. Over the course of November, the 10-year MMD yield has fallen 19 basis points from where it started at 1.72% while the 30-year yield has fallen 28 basis points from where it started the month at 2.82%.

Treasuries were stronger. The benchmark 10-year yield fell four basis points to 1.65% while the 30-year yield plummeted five basis points to 2.78%. The two-year yield fell one basis point to 0.27%.

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