The tax-exempt market continued to weaken Friday afternoon as Treasury yields rose.
After weeks of losses, traders remained hesitant to cut prices even more in the secondary and weren't selling bonds much cheaper.
"Traders are quite proud of their offerings and so it's hard to get things done," a San Francisco trader said. "There is not a lot of conviction on the buyer side and they can probably buy bonds cheaper next week."
He added the market would be a lot cheaper than it is if traders were going through. "It's weaker than some trades indicate and it would be a lot weaker if more got done. Traders are trying to minimize losses after the previous weeks."
In the muni market Thursday, the Municipal Market Data curve flattened as yields on the short end rose and yields on the long end fell. The 10-year and 30-year yields slid one basis point each to 2.11% and 3.28%, respectively. The two-year was steady at 0.30% for the fourth session.
Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors 5% scale ended mixed. The 10-year yield slid one basis point to 2.17%. The 30-year was steady at 3.40% for the second session and the two-year finished unchanged at 0.36% for the seventh session.
Treasuries were softer. The benchmark 10-year yield increased nine basis points to 2.17% and the 30-year yield jumped 10 basis points to 3.33%. The two-year yield rose one basis point to 0.31%.
