Muni yields were slightly lower to start the day on Thursday, as the primary municipal bond market is set to see the bulk of the week's new issuance hit the screens, led by issuers in Alabama and Delaware.
Secondary Market
Top-rated municipal bonds were slightly stronger on Thursday morning. The 10-year benchmark muni general obligation yield was as many as two basis points lower from 2.37% on Wednesday, while the yield on the 30-year GO was as many as one basis point lower from 3.11%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
Treasuries were stronger on Thursday morning. The yield on the two-year Treasury declined to 1.19% from 1.22% on Wednesday, while the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.38% from 2.41%, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond decreased to 3.02% from 3.03%.
On Wednesday, the 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 98.1% compared to 97.7% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 102.5%, versus 102.4%, according to MMD.
MSRB: Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 43,781 trades on Wednesday on volume of $8.757 billion.
Primary Market
New issue volume this week is estimated at $3.61 billion, comprised $2.08 billion of negotiated deals and $1.53 billion of competitive sales.
Citigroup is expected to price the tax-exempt portion of Alabama State Port Authority's $281 million of dock facilities revenue refunding bonds.
The underlying ratings are A-minus by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings. At least part of the deal will be insured by Assured Guaranty, which is rated AA by S&P.
Citi is also set to price the tax-exempt portion of the California Educational Facilities Authority's $184 million of revenue bonds for Loma Linda University.
The deal is rated Baa1 by Moody's Investors Service and A by S&P.
On Thursday, the state of Delaware will competitively sell $225 million of general obligation bonds. The deal is rated triple-A by Moody's, S&P and Fitch.
Since 2007, Delaware has sold about $3.29 billion of bonds, with the most issuance coming in 2009 when it offered $729 million. The First State did not come to market in 2012 or 2015.
Miami-Dade County will competitively sell $176.93 million of transit system sales surtax revenue refunding bonds on Thursday. The deal is rated AA by S&P and Fitch.
The Port of Seattle will competitively to sell $129.94 million of limited tax GO bonds on Thursday. The deal is rated triple-A by Moody's and S&P and AA-minus by Fitch.
The Lancaster County School District, S.C., will competitively sell $125 million of Series 2017 GOs on Thursday. The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody's and AA by S&P.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $39.2 million to $9.21 billion on Thursday. The total is comprised of $4.59 billion of competitive sales and $4.62 billion of negotiated deals.
Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund Inflows
Tax-exempt money market funds experienced inflows of $356.8 million, bringing total net assets to $131.63 billion in the week ended Feb. 20, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. This followed an outflow of $539.1 million to $131.27 billion in the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 232 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds was unchanged from 0.22% in the previous week.
The total net assets of the 863 weekly reporting taxable money funds decreased $6.23 billion to $2.507 trillion in the week ended Feb. 21, after an inflow of $970.3 billion to $2.513 trillion the week before.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds was steady from 0.27% in the prior week.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,095 weekly reporting money funds fell $5.87 billion to $2.639 trillion in the week ended Feb. 21, after inflows of $431.2 billion to $2.645 trillion in the prior week.