The municipal bond market was seeing the last of the week’s bigger issues come to market on Thursday after a deluge of new supply kept traders busy the day before.
Secondary Trading
Treasury prices were higher on Thursday with the yield on the two-year Treasury note slipping to 0.63% from 0.64% on Wednesday, while the 10-year yield fell to 2.03% from 2.07% and the 30-year yield decreased to 2.85% from 2.88%.
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation on Wednesday finished steady from 2.03% on Tuesday, while the yield on the 30-year GO was unchanged from 3.04%, according to the final read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated on Wednesday at 98.6% versus 98.2% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 105.6% compared to 106.2%, according to MMD.
Primary Market
RBC Capital Markets is set to price for institutions the state of Connecticut's $847.67 million of Series 2015A and Series 2015B special tax obligation bonds for transportation infrastructure purposes after a retail order period Wednesday.
The $700 million of Series 2015A bonds were priced for retail to yield from 0.92% with a 5% coupon in 2018 to 3.58% with a 4% coupon and 3.28% with a 5% coupon in a split 2035 maturity. The 2016 and 2017 maturities were offered as sealed bids; no retail orders were taken in the 2026-2029, 2031, or 2033-2034 maturities.
The $147.67 million of Series 2015B refunding bonds were priced for retail to yield from 0.92% with a 3% coupon to 2.70% with a 5% coupon in 2027.
The bonds were rated Aa3 by Moody’s and AA by S&P and Fitch.
Ramirez & Co. is set to price the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority's $280 million of Series 2015 A and B senior sales tax bonds for institutions on Thursday.
The issue is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA-plus by S&P.
Since 1995, MBTA has sold about $10.7 billion of debt. The years of 2004 and 2005 saw the highest issuance with $1.6 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively. The MBTA did not come to market at all in 2001, 2011 or 2013.
Tax-Exempt Money Market Funds Post Outflows
Tax-exempt money market funds experienced outflows of $1.63 billion, bringing total net assets to $243.95 billion in the period ended Sept. 28, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. This followed an outflow of $1.47 billion to $245.58 billion in the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 377 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds remained at 0.01% for the 126th straight week.
The total net assets of the 949 weekly reporting taxable money funds rose $17.41 billion to $2.458 trillion in the period ended Sept. 29, after an inflow of $17.78 billion to $2.440 trillion the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds remained at 0.02% for the 37th week in a row.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,326 weekly reporting money funds increased $15.78 billion to $2.702 trillion in the period ended Sept. 29, which followed an inflow of $16.31 billion to $2.686 trillion the week before.
MSRB Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 40,494 trades on Wednesday on volume of $8.788 billion.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar fell $867.7 million to $12.19 billion on Wednesday. The total is comprised of $3.94 billion competitive sales and $8.25 billion of negotiated deals.
