Taylor Riggs

The tax-exempt market cheapened the week ended March 15 as underwriters priced deals with concessions.

Activity in the tax-exempt market started to slow Friday morning after a hectic week in the primary.

After what appeared to be strong retail demand for California general obligation bonds in the primary market Tuesday and Wednesday, the state faced headwinds with institutional buyers Thursday.

Yields on the California deal were increased as much as 15 basis points in institutional pricing Thursday as traders said the price cuts were a signal of overall weakness in the general market.

With most of the primary issuance behind it, the municipal bond market turned its attention to the California deal pricing for institutions Thursday.

California priced for retail the largest deal of the week Tuesday amid a more constructive tone in the overall market.

California led the primary market Tuesday afternoon with $2.16 billion of tax-exempt bonds pricing for retail and indications of interest on almost $600 million of taxable debt.

The market turned its eyes to the West Coast Tuesday morning as California was expected to price for retail $2.15 billion of tax-exempt bonds and took indications of interest on almost $600 million of taxable debt.

The New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority kicked off this week's primary calendar with a retail pricing Monday that looked expensive in the midst of an overall softer market.

The New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority kicked off what could be one of the larger primary calendar weeks in 2013 with a retail order period Monday.

After a double-digit selloff in the municipal bond market last week, tax-exempts stabilized Monday morning along with Treasuries.

A positive employment report Friday morning dragged down bond prices, capping what has been a week-long risk on trade and higher fixed income yields.

Prices on tax-exempt bonds crumbled under the weight of March seasonal factors, softer Treasuries, and a risk on trade that persisted throughout the week.

A snowy Friday afternoon in the Northeast helped quiet down activity in the tax-exempt market as traders said bids that were out this morning were starting to go away. Still, the market felt significantly weaker.

Driven by better-than-expected economic news and an unemployment rate that fell to a four-year low, the tax-exempt market continued to post losses Friday morning.

With a risk on trade pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its third straight record high Thursday, municipal bond yields followed Treasuries higher.

Despite significant cheapening in municipal bond market, larger competitive deals are seeing fairly decent reception, and the large New York State general obligation deal continued that trend Thursday afternoon.

Coming off the heels of a fairly well-received $700 million Maryland general obligation deal, the tax-exempt market focused Thursday on what could be the second largest deal of the week.

Despite an overall soft municipal bond market, the largest deal of the week saw buying support and yields did not cheapen as much as the benchmark scales.

The tax-exempt market softened Wednesday afternoon as the largest deal of the week, $680.6 million of triple-A rated Maryland general obligation bonds, came in as much as four basis points off the Municipal Market Data scale.