Top-rated municipal bonds finished mostly weaker on Monday, according to traders, ahead of this week's $4.3 billion new issue calendar.
Market participants will be keeping an eye on yields, which have been more volatile than usual the past few weeks.
Secondary Market
The 10-year benchmark muni general obligation yield rose one basis point to 2.29% from 2.28% on Friday, while the yield on the 30-year GO increased one basis point to 3.05% from 3.04%, according to the final read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
Treasuries were weaker on Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury rose to 1.20% from 1.14% on Friday, while the 10-year Treasury yield gained to 2.37% from 2.32%, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond increased to 2.98% from 2.96%.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated on Monday at 96.8% compared to 98.5% on Friday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 102.2%, versus 102.9%, according to MMD.
MSRB: Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 38,671 trades on Friday on volume of $10.1 billion.
Prior Week's Actively Traded Issues
Revenue bonds comprised 58.83% of new issuance in the week ended Feb. 24, up from 58.52% in the previous week,
Some of the most actively traded issues by type were from Ohio, New York, and Nebraska.
In the GO bond sector, the Berea City School District, Ohio, 4s of 2053 were traded 47 times. In the revenue bond sector, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority 2s of 2017 were traded 31 times. And in the taxable bond sector, the Omaha, Neb., Public Facilities Corp. 4.353s of 2047 were traded 22 times.
Previous Week's Top Underwriters
The top negotiated and competitive underwriters of last week included Citigroup, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets, PNC Finances Services, and Morgan Stanley, according to Thomson Reuters data.
In the week of Feb. 19 to Feb. 25, Citi underwrote $682.6 million, BAML $344.7 million, RBC $279.8 million, PNC $226.6 million and Morgan Stanley $225 million.
Primary Market
This week's calendar is comprised of $2.9 billion of negotiated deals and $1.4 billion of competitive sales.
Siebert Cisneros Shank priced the New York City Municipal Water Finance's Authority's $395.57 million of Fiscal 2017 Series EE water and sewer second general resolution revenue bonds for retail investors on Monday, ahead of the institutional pricing on Tuesday.
The issue was priced as 5s to yield 3.06% in part of a split 2033 maturity, as 3 1/2s to yield 3.55% in 2035, as 5s to yield 3.23% in part of a split 2036 maturity, as 5s to yield 3.26% in part of a split 2037 maturity, as 3 5/8s to yield 3.67% in part of a 2038 maturity and as 4s to yield 3.61% in part of a 2039 maturity.
No retail orders were taken in part of a 2033 maturity, or parts of the 2036-2039 maturities.
The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service and AA-plus by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings. The bonds carry stable outlooks from all three rating agencies.
On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley is set to price the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank's $450 million of clean water state revolving fund revenue green bonds.
The deal is rated triple-A by S&P and Fitch.
Piper Jaffray is expected to price the Douglas County, Neb., Hospital Authority No. 2's $100 million of Series 2017 revenue bonds for Children's Hospital on Tuesday.
The deal is rated A1 by Moody's and AA-minus by Fitch.
The biggest negotiated deal of the week is coming on Wednesday when Morgan Stanley prices the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank's $450 million of Series 2017 clean water state revolving fund revenue green bonds, after a one-day retail order period on Tuesday. The deal is rated triple-A by S&P and Fitch.
In the competitive arena on Wednesday, Baltimore County, Md., is selling $545 million of notes and bonds in three separate sales.
The offerings consist of $225 million of Series 2017 metropolitan district bond anticipation notes, $121 million of Series 2017 consolidated public improvement BANs, and $191.1 million of metropolitan district bonds, 79th Issue.
The BANs are rated MIG1 by Moody's, SP1-plus by S&P and F1-plus by Fitch. The bonds are rated triple-A by Moody's, S&P and Fitch.