Top-quality municipal bonds were stronger in early activity, according to traders, ahead of next week's new issue slate.
Ipreo estimates next week's volume at $4.3 billion, up a revised total of $2.6 billion this week. Next week's calendar is comprised of $2.9 billion of negotiated deals and $1.4 billion of competitive sales.
Secondary Market
The 10-year benchmark muni general obligation yield fell two to four basis points from 2.34% on Thursday, while the yield on the 30-year GO dropped two to four basis points from 3.09%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
Treasuries were also stronger on Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury dropped to 1.16% from 1.19% on Thursday, while the 10-year Treasury yield declined to 2.34% from 2.38%, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond decreased to 2.99% from 3.02%.
On Thursday, the 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 98.1% compared to 98.1% on Wednesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 102.3%, versus 102.5%, according to MMD.
MSRB: Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 46,898 trades on Thursday on volume of $11.64 billion.
Primary Market
Citigroup priced the Alabama State Port Authority's $142.405 million of dock facilities revenue refunding bonds consisting of $124.140 million of Series 2017A alternative minimum tax bonds, $12.110 million of Series 2017B non-AMT bonds and $6.16 million of Series 2017C non-AMT bonds.
Assured Guaranty Municipal insured the Series 2017A AMT bonds, except for the 2017 maturity and the Series 2017C non-AMT bonds. The deal is rated A-minus by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings, with the exception of the insured maturities, which are rated AA by S&P.
Citi also priced California Educational Facilities Authority's $179.055 million of revenue bonds for Loma Linda University consisting of $135.45 million of Series 2017A tax-exempts and $43.61 million of Series 2017B taxables. The deal is rated Baa1 by Moody's Investors Service and A by S&P.
JPMorgan Securities priced the Michigan State Hospital Finance Authority's $178.52 million of refunding and project revenue bonds for Ascension Health Senior Credit Group as a remarketing.
The issue consisted of $95.55 million of Series 2010F-2 bonds and $82.98 million of Series 2010F-5 bonds. The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA-plus by S&P and Fitch.
In the competitive arena, Delaware sold $225 million of general obligation bonds. Morgan Stanley won the bonds with a true interest cost of 2.80%. The deal is rated triple-A by Moody's, S&P and Fitch.
Miami-Dade County, Fla., sold $176.93 million of transit system sales surtax revenue refunding bonds. PNC Capital Markets won the bonds with a TIC of 3.66%. The deal is rated AA by S&P and Fitch.
The Port of Seattle sold $129.94 million of limited tax GO bonds. JPMorgan Securities won the bonds with a TIC of 3.55%. The deal is rated triple-A by Moody's and S&P and AA-minus by Fitch.
Forsyth County, N.C., sold $129.3 million of GOs in two separate offerings. Citigroup won the $107.5 million of Series 2017B GO public improvement bonds with a TIC of 3.12%. Robert W. Baird won the $21.8 million of Series 2017A GO public improvement bonds with a TIC of 2.83%. The deals are rated triple-A by Moody's, S&P and Fitch.
The Lancaster County School District, S.C., competitively sold $125 million of Series 2017 GOs. Bank of America Merrill Lynch won the bonds with a TIC of 3.29%. 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 $678.3 million to $9.94 billion on Friday. The total is comprised of $4.42 billion of competitive sales and $5.51 billion of negotiated deals.
Lipper: Muni Bond Funds Report Inflows
Municipal bond funds again attracted inflows, according to Lipper data released late Thursday. The weekly reporters saw $149.336 million of inflows in the week ended Feb. 22, after inflows of $480.072 million in the previous week.
The four-week moving average remained in the green at positive $236.914 million, after being positive at $201.325 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 $156.457 million in the latest week after gaining $464.295 million in the previous week. Intermediate-term funds had inflows of $82.507 million after outflows of $8.176 million in the prior week.
National funds had inflows of $207.266 million after inflows of $495.227 million in the previous week. High-yield muni funds reported inflows of $227.761 million in the latest reporting week, after inflows of $481.705 million the previous week.
Exchange traded funds saw outflows of $36.447 million, after inflows of $12.103 million in the previous week.