Oliver Renick

The market for tax-exempt municipal bonds was slow Thursday afternoon, as some market participants said bond prices remained unattractively high.

Municipal bond buyers on Thursday turned their attention to $1 billion of Illinois general obligation bonds as trading activity on the week remained muted.

Municipal bonds were sluggish Wednesday afternoon even as technical indications showed opportunity in the market. Traders speculated what the impact of a Puerto Rico downgrade would have on prices.

Puerto Rico bonds were trading on pace with levels seen in recent weeks, market participants said, lending credibility to the argument by some that a downgrade to junk had been long-anticipated by the municipal market.

Municipal bond yields remained steady to firmer Wednesday as an after-market downgrade of Puerto Rico bonds led traders to speculate on the impact of the inevitable.

With more than 16,000 brokers and financial advisors, Morgan Stanley is aiming to become the top municipal bond underwriter.

Municipal bonds may get fresh attention if equity markets continue a slump that began this month, traders said.

After trailing rallying Treasuries on Monday, the municipal market geared up for new issuance Tuesday with traders hoping to see firming.

After three weeks of rallying, municipal bonds finished the month with a soft week as the market remained largely unchanged Friday.

Yields on municipal bonds showed signs of recovering from a slow week Friday, but continued to underperform Treasuries through the afternoon.

Municipal bond yields ticked down Friday morning after spending a week losing gains from a month-long rally.

Stifel Financial Corp., the parent company of Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., acquired public finance banking boutique De La Rosa & Co. The deal may catapult Stifel into a top-10 underwriting position in municipal bonds.

Bond Buyer Indexes Down for Fourth Week

Municipal bond yields jumped Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced it will increase its tapering program. Puerto Rico bonds also softened.

Municipal bond traders Thursday said the month-long rally that pushed yields down more than 30 basis points on some maturities has run into headwinds.

The rally that propelled municipal bond yields this month may be coming to a close, some traders said, as yields rose for a third straight day.

Municipal bond yields climbed Wednesday as the Federal Reserve said it would continue tapering its quantitative easing policy.

Yields on municipal bonds rose across the curve Wednesday afternoon as supply remained limited and investors waited to hear an update on tapering from the Federal Reserve.

Assured Guaranty and National Public Finance Guarantee have sufficient capital positions to withstand a potential downgrade of Puerto Rico bonds, Standard & Poor's said in a note Wednesday.

Puerto Rico general obligations have outperformed AAA-rated GOs as municipal bonds have rallied this month.