Market Post: Munis Quiet Down as Storm Approaches

Activity in the tax-exempt market started to slow significantly as traders in the Northeast region headed home early to avoid winter storm Nemo.

"The talk on desks is the snowstorm" and that suggests it "will be a low-volume day as the east coast braces," a Chicago trader said. "Combined with no market-moving economic news, we expect the muted secondary activity to continue."

Municipal bond market reads showed steady to stronger trading Thursday for the second consecutive session.

Yields on the Municipal Market Data triple-A GO scale finished one basis point lower. The 10-year fell one basis point to 1.80%. The 30-year yield held flat at 2.86% for the third session while the two-year closed at 0.34% for the ninth session.

The Municipal Market Advisors 5% coupon triple-A benchmark scale also showed steady to lower yields. The 10-year yield and the 30-year yield fell one basis point each to 1.83% and 2.94%, respectively. The two-year closed unchanged at 0.35% for the ninth session.

Treasuries were slightly weaker Friday afternoon. "The benchmark 10-year yield and the 30-year yield increased one basis point each to 1.97% and 3.18%, respectively. The two-year yield also rose one basis point to 0.27%.

In the primary market next week, $4.35 billion in municipal bonds are expected, down from this week's revised $5.08 billion. On the negotiated calendar, $2.42 billion is expected to be issued, down from this week's revised $3.72 billion. On the competitive calendar, $1.93 billion should be auctioned, slightly from this week's revised $1.36 billion.

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