Taylor Riggs

The week's largest deals began to price Tuesday morning, pulling buying interest to the primary market and allowing munis to outperform a weaker Treasury market.

Several new issues pricing Monday lured retail buyers into the municipal bond market as yields fell with Treasuries. Munis were stronger for a second session, extending gains following Friday’s worse-than-expected employment report.

The tax-exempt market continued to post gains Monday, though it underperformed its Treasury counterparts, as retail buyers were offered several deals in the primary market over $100 million.

The tax-exempt market held onto gains made Friday as the week opened with a mostly steady tone.

The municipal bond market posted gains Friday for the first time in a week, edging higher after worse-than-expected employment data pushed investors into safe-haven assets.

A small pause in rising municipal bond yields Friday afternoon wasn’t enough to give traders conviction the rally would continue with supply expected to increase in September.

The municipal bond market took direction from secondary trades and Treasuries this week as a light new-issue calendar took a back seat.

In a reversal, the tax-exempt market posted small gains Friday morning as Treasury yields fell on worse-than-expected jobs numbers.

Activity dropped off significantly in the primary and secondary markets this week as Labor Day and the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah kept traders from taking any big positions in the market.

Tax-exempt traders described the market as a being in a “muni malaise” Thursday afternoon with continued selling pressure and very few buyers interested.

Following better-than-expected jobless claims, investors felt confident buying riskier assets and sold safer fixed-income products, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield close to 3.00%.

The tax-exempt market stabilized Wednesday as a lack of supply offset lax demand.

The tax-exempt market showed slight improvement Wednesday afternoon as traders said yields didn’t rise as much as they did on Tuesday.

Traders in the tax-exempt refused to buy bonds Wednesday morning as selling pressure continued to push bond prices down and yields up.

Municipal bonds took direction from higher Treasury yields and moved as much as eight basis points softer in an illiquid and light trading session Tuesday.

The tax-exempt market headed weaker Tuesday, though traders said volume was light and finding a counterparty was difficult.

A light new-issue calendar expected during this holiday-shortened week did little to calm the municipal bond market Tuesday morning as yields rose several basis points following a Treasury selloff.

Triple-A tax-exempt bonds ended firmer for the week, a reversal after eight weeks of losses stemming from municipal bond mutual fund outflows and negative headlines.

The tax-exempt market showed major signs of slowing Friday morning as most traders were off the desk ahead of the three-day holiday weekend.

Yields on municipal bonds ended mostly flat Thursday as slight primary volume and lighter trading kept selling at bay.