Even with the majority of new issues expected to price Tuesday, municipal bond traders said the market still felt quiet on this holiday-shortened week.
“It’s very slow,” a New Jersey trader said. “The market is flat. There is not a whole lot going on.” He added the market wasn’t focused on any deals, as the calendar is relatively small.
Still, the largest deals are expected to price later Tuesday. Siebert, Brandford Shank & Co. is expected to price $245.2 million Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District wastewater improvement revenue bonds, rated Aa1 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA-plus by Standard & Poor’s.
Barclays is expected to price $210.9 million of Franklin County, Ohio, hospital facility revenue refunding and improvement bonds on behalf of OhioHealth Corp. The bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody’s, AA-plus by Standard & Poor’s and AA by Fitch Ratings.
RBC Capital Markets should price $150 million of Washoe County, Nev., highway revenue fuel tax bonds, rated A1 by Moody’s and A-plus by Standard & Poor’s.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is expected to price $143.5 million of Oklahoma City Economic Development Trust tax apportionment revenue bonds, including $117.7 million of taxable bonds and $25.8 million of tax-exempts. The bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by Standard & Poor’s.
Finally, Piper Jaffray should price $122 million of Sonoma County Junior College District general obligation refunding revenue bonds rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA-minus by Standard & Poor’s.
On Monday, municipal bond scales ended mixed.
Yields on the Municipal Market Data triple-A GO scale ended flat to one basis point weaker. The 10-year yield closed steady at 1.94% for the second session while the 30-year yield closed at 3.10% for the fourth consecutive session. The two-year finished flat at 0.31% for the 25th consecutive session.
Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors 5% coupon triple-A benchmark scale ended one basis point stronger to one basis point weaker. The 10-year yield fell one basis point to 1.99% while the 30-year yield increased one basis point to 3.20%.The two-year held at 0.33% for the 20th session.
Treasuries were weaker on positive economic data. The benchmark 10-year yield and the 30-year yield rose one basis point each to 1.93% and 3.15%, respectively. The two-year yield also increased one basis point to 0.26%.
In economic news, new orders on durable goods soared $12.4 billion, or 5.7%, to $232.1 billion in February. It was the largest increase since a 9.1% gain reported last September. Economists had expected a 3.8% increase.
“Volatility in defense and civilian aircraft orders has led to significantly monthly swings in durable goods orders in recent months, but with total orders up 22.7% at an annual rate over the last three months, orders excluding transportation up 13.3%, and orders excluding defense and civilian aircraft up 15.0% on the same basis, this report paints a picture of solid underlying manufacturing activity,” wrote economists at RDQ Economics. “From a first-quarter GDP accounting perspective, both inventory investment and core capital goods shipments have picked up this quarter and the trend in core capital goods orders provides an encouraging sign for business capital equipment investment going forward.”
In other economic news, new home sales dipped 4.6% to 411,000 in February, falling short of economists’ expectations of 420,000.
