Market Post: Buying Spree Pushes Munis Higher

The tax-exempt market continued to gain Wednesday afternoon as traders said it felt stronger across the board.

"It's quite a bit stronger on the bid side," a Chicago trader said. "I don't know why but it's significantly stronger. There are more bids in the secondary and it's picking up in every way it can."

While the secondary seemed to gain the focus of buyers Wednesday, new issues were expected to price in the primary.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is expected to price $201 million of triple-A rated Connecticut State Revolving Fund general revenue bonds, following a retail order period Tuesday.

RBC Capital Markets is expected to price $111.4 million of District of Columbia student dormitory revenue bonds on behalf of Provident Group-Howard Properties LLC. The bonds are rated BBB-minus by Standard & Poor's.

In the competitive market, University of Minnesota Regents auctioned $89.4 million of general obligation bonds in two pricings. Barclays won the bid for $75.3 million. BMO Capital Markets won the bid for $14.1 million. Pricing details were not available by press time.

Municipal bond market reads showed small losses after three sessions of steady to firmer gains.

Yields on the Municipal Market Data triple-A GO scale finished steady to one basis point higher. The 30-year yield rose one basis point to 2.86%. The 10-year yield finished flat at 1.81% while the two-year held steady at 0.34% for the seventh session.

The Municipal Market Advisors 5% coupon triple-A benchmark scale also showed steady to higher yields. The 30-year yield increased one basis point to 2.95%. The 10-year yield held steady at 1.84% for the fifth consecutive trading session while the two-year closed unchanged at 0.35% for the seventh session.

Treasuries were steady to stronger Wednesday afternoon, reversing Tuesday's losses. The two-year yield and the benchmark 10-year yield fell one basis point each to 0.26% and 2.00%, respectively. The 30-year was steady at 3.21%.

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