While Wednesdays are typically flooded with new issues, the municipal bond market took a rare mid-week breather as traders said the market was quiet.
Many of the week's largest deals priced in the tax-exempt market Tuesday and even with a stronger Treasury market following worse-than-expected ADP employment numbers, munis remained steady.
"It's a dead market," a New York trader said. "I've heard the words 'dead' and 'stale' to describe today's market."
In one of the last major deals to price in the primary this week, Citi sold $267.1 million of Portsmouth, Va., general obligation taxable and tax-exempt refunding bonds, rated double-A by the rating agencies.
Bonds in the first series, $209.5 million of taxable GOs, were priced at par to yield from 0.45% in 2014 to 4.541% in 2037. Spreads ranged from 37 basis points to 180 basis points above the comparable Treasury yield.
Yields on the second series, $57.6 million of tax-exempt GO public improvement and refunding bonds, ranged from 0.25% with a 2% coupon in 2014 to 3.42% with a 5% coupon in 2035. The bonds are callable at par in 2023.
In the competitive market, Bank of America Merrill Lynch won the bid for $200 million of Kern County, Calif., tax and revenue anticipation notes, rated SP-1-plus by Standard & Poor's. The notes yielded 0.18% with a 1.25% coupon in 2014.
Tuesday, yields on the Municipal Market Data scale ended as much as five basis points weaker. The 10-year yield rose two basis points to 2.10% and the 30-year yield increased five basis points to 3.29%. The two-year was steady at 0.30%.
Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors 5% scale ended as much as five basis points higher. The 10-year yield rose two basis points to 2.16% and the 30-year yield rose five basis points to 3.39%. The two-year finished steady at 0.36% for the fifth session.
Treasuries continued to post gains Wednesday afternoon. The benchmark 10-year yield dropped five basis points to 2.09% and the 30-year yield slid four basis points to 3.26%. The two-year was steady at 0.30%.
