Top-shelf municipal bonds were unchanged at mid-session, traders said, as they prepare for next week's chunky new issue calendar.
Ipreo estimates volume for next week at $5.96 billion, up from a revised total of $4.41 billion this week, according to updated data from Thomson Reuters. Next week's calendar is composed of $4.53 billion of negotiated deals and $1.43 billion of competitive sales.
Secondary Market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation was steady from 2.28% on Thursday, while the 30-year GO yield was unchanged from 3.07%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
On the week, muni yields were more than 10 basis points lower. On March 17, the 10-year yield stood at 2.40% while the 30-year yield was at 3.18%.
U.S. Treasuries were unchanged on Friday. The yield on the two-year was unchanged from 1.25% on Thursday, while the 10-year Treasury yield was steady from 2.41%, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was flat at 3.02%.
On Thursday, the 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 94.4% compared with 96.1% on Wednesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 101.4%, versus 103.0%, according to MMD.
MSRB: Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 41,941 trades on Thursday on volume of $13.52 billion.
Week's Most Actively Traded Issues
Some of the most actively traded issues by type in the week ended March 24 were from Massachusetts, New York and Puerto Rico, according to Markit.
In the GO bond sector, the Massachusetts 2s of 2017 were traded 23 times. In the revenue bond sector, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority 5s of 2017 were traded 48 times. And in the taxable bond sector, the Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority 5.65s of 2028 were traded 20 times.
Week's Most Actively Quoted Issues
Puerto Rico, West Virginia and California names were among the most actively quoted bonds in the week ended March 24, according to Markit.
On the bid side, the Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority revenue 5.25s of 2042 were quoted by 52 unique dealers. On the ask side, the West Virginia Hospital Finance Authority revenue 4.25s of 2047 were quoted by 197 unique dealers. And among two-sided quotes, the California taxable 7.55s of 2039 were quoted by 24 unique dealers.
Primary Market
The new issue market saw a moderate amount of issuance during the week.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced he New York State Environmental Facilities Corp.'s $594.39 million of state clean water and drinking water revolving funds revenue bonds for New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority projects. The deal is rated triple-A by Moody's Investors Service, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.
Goldman Sachs priced the Oregon Department of Administration Services' $230.92 million of tax-exempt and taxable state lottery revenue bonds. The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody's and AAA by S&P.
BAML priced the North Carolina Turnpike Authority's $200.52 million of Series 2017 senior lien turnpike revenue refunding bonds for the Triangle Expressway System. The deal is rated BBB by S&P and BBB-minus by Fitch with the exception of the 2024, 2026 through 2029, 2031 and 2039 maturities, which are insured by Assured Guaranty Municipal and are rated A2 by Moody's and AA by S&P.
Piper Jaffray priced the Palomar Community College District, Calif.'s $139 million of Series 2017D general obligation bonds. The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody's and AA by S&P.
JPMorgan Securities priced the Clark County, Nev.'s $116.88 million of airport system subordinate lien refunding revenue bonds. The deal is rated Aa3 by Moody's and A-plus by S&P.
Goldman Sachs priced the Dutchess County, N.Y., Local Development Corp.'s $102.56 million of Series 2017 revenue refunding bonds for Vassar College. The deal is rated Aa3 by Moody's and AA-minus by S&P.
In the competitive arena, the San Francisco Unified School District sold two deals totaling $239.9 million. Citigroup won the $180 million election of 2016 Series A general obligation bonds with a true interest cost of 3.23%. JPMorgan won the $59.9 million of 2017 GO refunding bonds with a TIC of 1.74%. Both sales are rated Aa2 by Moody's, AA-minus by S&P and triple-A by Fitch.
Louisiana sold $187.62 million of Series 2017A general obligation bonds. Bank of America Merrill Lynch won the bonds with a TIC of 3.45%. The deal is rated Aa3 by Moody's and AA-minus by S&P and Fitch.
The New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority sold $128.32 million of Series 2017C revenue bonds for Princeton University. Morgan Stanley won the bonds with a TIC of 3.50%. The deal is rated triple-A by Moody's and S&P.
The North Texas Municipal Water District competitively sold $112.26 of bonds in two separate offerings. Bank of America Merrill Lynch won the $74.94 million of Series 2017 regional wastewater system revenue bonds with a TIC of 3.66%. The bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's and AAA by S&P. Wells Fargo Securities won the $37.32 million of Series 2017 contract revenue bonds for the Upper East Fork wastewater interceptor system with a TIC of 3.12%. The bonds are rated Aa1 by Moody's and AAA by S&P.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $3.22 billion to $10.67 billion on Friday. The total is comprised of $3.10 billion of competitive sales and $7.57 billion of negotiated deals.
Lipper: Muni Bond Funds Report Inflows
Investors in municipal bond funds made an about-face and put cash back in the funds in the latest week, according to Lipper data released late Thursday.
The weekly reporters saw $173.473 million of inflows in the week ended March 22, after outflows of $118.061 million in the previous week.
The four-week moving average remained in the red at negative $90.990 million, after being at negative $97.024 million in the previous week. A moving average is an analytical tool used to smooth out price changes by filtering out fluctuations.
Long-term muni bond funds also had inflows, gaining $251.521 million in the latest week after falling $126.198 million in the previous week. Intermediate-term funds had outflows of $18.088 million after inflows of $64.843 million in the prior week.
National funds had inflows of $196.828 million after outflows of $12.954 million in the previous week. High-yield muni funds reported inflows of $222.906 million in the latest reporting week, after inflows of $65.995 million the previous week.
Exchange traded funds saw inflows of $118.730 million, after inflows of $31.051 million in the previous week.