Market Post: Run Up In Prices Gives Muni Traders Pause

The tax-exempt market opened the last trading session of the week on a quiet note with traders saying secondary activity was light.

A big run up in municipal bond prices since Sept. 5 gave traders pause Friday morning. In 15 consecutive trading sessions starting Sept. 6, the Municipal Market Data 10-year and 30-year yields have fallen nearly 50 basis points.

“Not much is happening,” a New Jersey trader said. “No one is budging. You show a bid one or two basis points away and bids are close to the offering but the offering guy isn’t hitting the bid and the guy with the bid isn’t jumping at the offering. So there is not a lot of secondary.”

On Thursday, yields on the triple-A Municipal Market Data scale ended unchanged. The 10-year and 30-year yields were steady at 2.54% and 4.11%, respectively. The two-year was steady at 0.36% for the fifth session.

Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors scale ended as much as two basis points higher. The 10-year and 30-year yields rose one basis point each to 2.70% and 4.25%, respectively. The two-year was steady at 0.54% for the sixth consecutive trading session.

Treasuries were slightly stronger Friday morning after weakening Thursday. The two-year yield fell one basis point to 0.34% and the benchmark 10-year yield slid two basis points to 2.63%. The 30-year was steady at 3.69%.

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