Top rated municipal bonds were steady to stronger at mid-session, according to traders, as they once again look ahead to a healthy new issue slate.
Total volume for next week is estimated by Ipreo at $8.17 billion, up from a revised total of $7.25 billion sold this week, according to Thomson Reuters. Next week's calendar is composed of $6.45 billion of negotiated deals and $1.72 billion of competitive sales.
Secondary Trading
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation was as much as one basis point weaker from 1.62% on Thursday, while the 30-year muni yield was unchanged from 2.58%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
U.S. Treasuries were narrowly mixed on Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury slipped to 0.78% from 0.79% on Thursday, while the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 1.84% from 1.83% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was unchanged from 2.70%.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 88.3% on Thursday compared with 88.5% on Wednesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 95.9% versus 96.5%, according to MMD.
MSRB Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 37,021 trades on Thursday on volume of $12.35 billion.
The Week's Most Actively Traded Issues
Some of the most actively traded issues by type in the week ended April 29 were from California issuers, according to data released by Markit.
In the GO bond sector, the California 3s of 2036 traded 26 times. In the revenue bond sector, the California SCDA 5 1/4s of 2056 traded 56 times. And in the taxable bond sector, the Riverside USD, Calif. 4 1/4s of 2036 traded 27 times, Markit said.
The Week's Most Actively Quoted Issues
California issues were also among the most actively quoted names in the week ended April 29, according to Markit.
On the bid side, the California taxable 7 1/2s of 2034 were quoted by 14 unique dealers. On the ask side, California taxable 7.55s of 2039 were quoted by 15 unique dealers. And among two-sided quotes, California taxable 7.55s of 2039 were quoted by 12 dealers.
Primary Market
Healthcare issues dominated the week's new issue calendar. Municipal bond traders said all the healthcare deals met with good reception.
Morgan Stanley priced Ascension Health Alliance's $1.2 billion healthcare deal through four conduit issuers for the Ascension Senior Credit Group. The bonds were rated Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service and AA-plus by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced the California Statewide Communities Development Authority's $947.62 million of Series 2016A revenue bonds for the Loma Linda University Medical Center. The bonds were rated BB by S&P and BB-plus by Fitch.
Barclays Capital Markets priced Scioto County, Ohio's $123.64 million of Series 2016 hospital facilities refunding revenue bonds for the Southern Ohio Medical Center. The bonds were rated A2 by Moody's.
JPMorgan Securities priced St. Cloud, Minn.'s $192.53 million of Series 2016A healthcare revenue bonds for the Centracare Health System. The issue was rated A1 by Moody's and A-plus by S&P.
Wells Fargo Securities priced the Colorado Health Facilities Authority's $114.59 million of Series 2016 hospital revenue bonds for the NCMC Inc. project. The deal was rated A-plus by S&P and Fitch.
Citigroup priced the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency's $221.07 million of Series 2016 I revenue bonds for CareGroup. The deal was rated A3 by Moody's and A-minus by S&P.
BAML priced the Harris County, Texas, Cultural Education Facilities Financing Corp.'s $139.92 million of Series 2016 medical facilities mortgage revenue refunding bonds for the Baylor College of Medicine. The deal was rated A by S&P.
Elsewhere, Citi priced the Texas Private Activity Bond Surface Transportation Corp.'s $271.3 million of tax-exempt senior lien revenue bonds for the Blueridge Transportation Group's SH 288 Toll Lanes Project. The deal was rated Baa3 by Moody's and BBB-minus by S&P.
Citi also priced the Mission Economic Development Corp., Texas' $202.89 million of Series 2016B senior lien revenue bonds for the Natgasoline project. The deal has a preliminary rating of BB-minus from S&P.
BAML priced the Public Power Generation Agency, Neb.'s $136 million of Series 2016A revenue refunding bonds for the Whelan Energy Center's Unit 2. The deal is rated A2 by Moody's and A-minus by Fitch.
JPMorgan Securities priced the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority's $149 million of Series 2016B housing mortgage finance program bonds. The deal was rated triple-A by Moody's and S&P.
Piper Jaffray priced the Ohlone Community College District, Alameda County, Calif.'s $155 million Election of 2010 Series C GOs. The deal was rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA by Fitch.
In the competitive arena, Miami-Dade County, Fla., sold $350 million of Series 2016A general obligation refunding bonds under the Building Better Communities Program.
Wells Fargo Securities won the bonds with a true interest cost of 3.04%. The bonds were rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA by S&P.
The Horry County School District, S.C., competitively sold $125 million of Series 2016 GOs. BAML won the deal with a TIC of 1.35%. The bonds were rated Aa1 by Moody's and AA by S&P.
Rhode Island sold a total of $125.81 million of tax-exempt and taxable consolidated capital development loan of 2016 general obligation bonds in two separate sales. Wells Fargo Securities won the $112.64 million of tax-exempt Series A GOs and tax-exempt Series C refunding GOs with a true interest cost of 2.39%. JPMorgan Securities won the $13.17 million of taxable Series B GOs with a TIC of 1.39%. Both sales were rated Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service and AA by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
The Illinois Regional Transportation Authority competitively sold $150 million of Series 2016C taxable GO working cash notes. Wells Fargo won the notes with a TIC of 1.43%. The deal was rated AA by S&P and Fitch.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $2.85 billion to $13.15 billion on Friday. The total is comprised of $5.55 billion of competitive sales and $7.60 billion of negotiated deals.
Muni Bond Funds See Inflows for 30th Straight Week
For the 30th week in a row, municipal bond funds reported inflows, according to Lipper data released Thursday. Weekly reporting funds saw $1.173 billion of inflows in the week ended April 27, after inflows of $555.910 million in the previous week, Lipper said.
The four-week moving average remained positive at $674.752 million after being in the green at $577.356 million in the previous week. A moving average is an analytical tool used to smooth out price changes by filtering out fluctuations.
