The municipal bond market was very quiet Monday morning, typical after a three-day holiday weekend where traders struggled to put money to work.
Bond markets had an early close Thursday and a full close last Friday due to Easter weekend.
"It's quiet. Very quiet," a New York trader said. The trades that were occurring were steady to Thursday's levels.
The market was anticipating the week's two largest deals expected to come in the competitive market Tuesday - including $950 million of Pennsylvania general obligation bonds and $800 million of Illinois GOs.
Along with those two big deals, primary market can expect $4.94 billion to be priced, up from last week's revised $2.72 billion. On the negotiated calendar, $2.32 billion should be issued, down just slightly from last week's revised $2.36 billion. In the competitive market, $2.62 billion is expected to be auctioned, up from last week's revised $364 million.
On Thursday, municipal bond scales ended stronger.
Yields on the Municipal Market Data triple-A GO scale ended as much as two basis points lower. The 10-year and 30-year yields closed steady at 1.91% and 3.09%, respectively. The two-year finished flat at 0.31% for the 28th consecutive session.
Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors 5% coupon triple-A benchmark scale ended as much as one basis point lower. The 10-year and 30-year yields finished flat at 1.96% and 3.19%, respectively. The two-year held at 0.33% for the 23rd session.
Treasuries were mostly steady Monday morning. The two-year and benchmark 10-year yields were flat at 0.25% and 1.85%, respectively. The 30-year yield fell one basis point to 3.10%.
