The tax-exempt market continued to climb Wednesday and traders said munis were taking their cues from Treasuries.
"The market is four to six basis points stronger across the board," a Los Angeles trader said. "It's limited supply but also Treasuries are stronger. People are not optimistic about corporate earnings and so they are moving back to Treasuries. Munis are following."
In the primary market, Jefferies & Co. is expected to price for retail $805 million Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority refunding bonds. Institutional pricing is expected Thursday. The bonds were expected to price this past December, but were postponed due to market conditions.
The sale will include $625 million of subordinate bonds, rated A1 by Moody's Investors Service, A-plus by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings, and AA-minus by Kroll Bond Rating Agency.
The sale will also contain $180 million of senior bonds, rated Aa3 by Moody's, AA-minus by Standard & Poor's and Fitch, and AA by Kroll.
Barclays priced $87.1 million of Board of Regents of Texas State University System revenue and refunding bonds, rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA by Fitch.
Yields ranged from 0.20% with a 2% coupon in 2013 to 3.17% with a 5% coupon in 2042. The bonds are callable at par in 2023.
In the competitive market, JPMorgan won the bid for $334.3 million of triple-A rated Fairfax County, Va., general obligation bonds.
Yields on the first series, $206.3 million of public improvement bonds, ranged from 0.18% with a 1.5% coupon in 2013 to 2.28% with a 5% coupon in 2032. The bonds are callable at par in 2021.
Yields on the second series, $128 million of public improvement refunding bonds, ranged from 0.30% with a 3% coupon in 2014 to 2.16% with a 3% coupon in 2025. The bonds are callable a t par in 2023.
On Tuesday, the Municipal Market Data scale finished several basis points stronger after finishing higher Monday. The 10-year MMD yield plunged five basis points to 1.73% while the 30-year yield dropped four basis points to 2.83%. The two-year closed flat at 0.36% for the fifth consecutive session.
Treasuries pared losses from the morning session and traded steady. The benchmark 10-year yield and 30-year yield traded flat at 1.87% and 3.07%, respectively. The two-year held steady at 0.26%.
