Market Post: After Recent Drop in Yields, Buyers Hold Back in Light Trading

The tax-exempt market saw extremely light trading Monday afternoon after a recent rally in bond prices kept buyers hesitant about jumping back into the market at new low yields.

"Retail doesn't care," a New York trader said. "They haven't cared for a while but today they really don't care. There is nothing going on."

This trader added that with a lack of supply as well as the impending government shutdown, trading was light. "It's weaker just because you want to get a trade done. But it's a lack of confidence in the market that is encouraging that. People got used to higher yields a couple weeks ago and now they have a hard time grasping these yields."

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

Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors scale ended steady. The 10-year and 30-year yields were unchanged at 2.70% and 4.25%, respectively. The two-year was steady at 0.54% for the seventh consecutive trading session.

Treasuries were mostly flat Monday afternoon, even as some market participants feared a government shutdown at midnight tonight. The two-year and 30-year yields were steady at 0.34% and 3.69%, respectively. The benchmark 10-year yield rose one basis point to 2.64%.

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