Market Post: With Few Large Deals, Munis Open Quiet

The tax-exempt market opened on a quiet note Thursday morning with no primary deals to provide direction and mostly flat Treasuries and as-expected economic news.

Traders said markets waited for Friday's employment report and next week's increasing muni issuance to make any trades.

"There is not much activity," a New York trader said. "It's a bad market out there."

Wednesday, yields on the Municipal Market Data scale ended as much as three basis points weaker. The 10-year yield rose two basis points to 2.12%. The 30-year yield was flat at 3.29% for the second session and the two-year was steady at 0.30% for the third session.

Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors 5% scale ended as much as two basis points higher. The 10-year yield rose two basis points to 2.18% and the 30-year yield increased one basis point to 3.40%. The two-year finished steady at 0.36% for the sixth session.

Treasuries were flat to slightly weaker. The benchmark 10-year yield and the 30-year yield increased one basis point each to 2.11% and 3.26%, respectively. The two-year was flat at 0.30%.

In economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell 11,000 to 346,000 for the week ending June 1, coming in around economists' expectations of 345,000.

"The four-week average of jobless claims has crept higher in recent weeks but should fall next week unless initial claims rise sharply in the first week of June," wrote economists at RDQ Economics. "For May as a whole, initial claims averaged 349,000, which is similar to the 352,000 monthly average for the first four months of 2013. Falling layoff announcements suggests jobless claims should continue to trend lower in the months ahead."

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