The muni market slowed to a crawl Friday afternoon, but some strong bids surfaced.
With most muni to Treasury ratios under 100%, buyers are selective with what they are buying, and at what price. "Our institutional clients are buying at the right times and the right levels and they are more selective now than they were even earlier in the week," a New Jersey trader said.
This trader added next week's issuance is light which should help buyers in the secondary. "Next week is a light calendar and it should help dealers with inventories. We aren't moving bonds as fast as we'd like and buyers are being selective."
Yields on the Municipal Market Data scale were as much as four basis points stronger Thursday. The 10-year yield slid two basis points to 1.81% and the 30-year yield dropped three basis points to 2.95%. The two-year held steady at 0.28% for the sixth session.
The Municipal Market Advisors 5% scale also showed yields falling as much as three basis points. The 10-year and 30-year yields dropped three basis points each to 1.86% and 3.07%, respectively. The two-year yield held steady at 0.33% for a fifth consecutive session.
Treasuries continued to weaken Friday afternoon. The benchmark 10-year yield jumped eight basis points to 1.95% and the 30-year yield spiked seven basis points to 3.16%. The two-year yield rose one basis point to 0.25%.
