Market Post: Munis Weaker, Following Treasuries, with Little Activity

The tax-exempt market continued to see a small selloff in reaction to Friday morning's better-than-expected employment numbers.

The positive jobs report pushed the unemployment rate down to 7.5%, prompting a risk-on rally.

"We are looking at zero to two basis-point cuts out past 10-years," a Virginia trader said, referring to price cuts and higher yields. "But again you've got a fairly quiet Friday activity and next week there is a light calendar and a manageable 30-day visible supply so it's still supportive of munis."

On Thursday, munis were steady across the curve.

Yields on the Municipal Market Data triple-A GO scale finished unchanged. The 10-year yield finished steady at 1.66% for a second straight session, as did the 30-year yield, which held at 2.79%. The two-year finished flat at 0.29% for the 20th session.

Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors 5% scale ended flat as well. The 10-year held at 1.73% and the 30-year steady at 2.95%. The two-year was frozen at 0.32% for the 20th session.

Treasuries continued to weaken Friday afternoon. The benchmark 10-year yield soared 11 basis points to 1.74% and the 30-year yield jumped 13 basis points to 2.95%. The two-year yield increased one basis point to 0.22%.

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