Finance

The muni bond market remains strong, supported by Treasury market strength, said Anders S. Persson, Nuveen's chief investment officer for global fixed income, and Daniel J. Close, Nuveen's head of municipals.

While Trump's trade war has roiled markets, unnerved foreign governments and provoked criticism from leading economists, S&P affirmed its AA-plus rating for the U.S. — a score it's given since 2011, when it first downgraded the world's largest economy from AAA.

"If unfavorable economic numbers ... are released next month, we should expect a hold on any rate cuts and a possible rate hike to follow, putting a damper on any positive returns for the rest of the year," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

Doe announced his decision to hand over the day-to-day duties to his partners in a client email on Friday.

Issuance for the week of Aug. 18 remains elevated at an estimated at $6.166 billion, with $5.065 billion of negotiated deals and $1.101 billion of competitive deals on tap, according to LSEG.

Hunt Memorial Hospital District's distressed finances led to downgrades to Ba3 by Moody's Ratings and B-plus by S&P Global Ratings, with both giving it a negative outlook.

The latest inflation report — the producer price index — threw a monkey wrench into expectations for a big rate cut next month, according to some economists, may put into question any easing in September.

Muni performance is likely to recover during the second half of the year, said Cooper Howard, a fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab.

Through June 30, BAM insured 11 transactions with par of $100 million or more, with four more deals coming since then, the company said.

The rating agency cited the MTA's congestion pricing program, ridership recovery, healthy liquidity levels, and continued state support for the higher rating.

"The combination of stronger core and softer headline readings has left some traders struggling for direction," said Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com. "There is a reason to be both bullish and bearish depending on which CPI reading you wish to focus on."

Citing a "meaningful improvement in the state's balance sheet," S&P Global Ratings Monday upgraded New Jersey to A-plus from A.

Returns for the month currently stand at 0.64%, which have "pushed muni returns back into the green with year-to-date returns of 0.09%," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

The University of California is slated to price $1.5 billion in revenue bonds next week even as it battles Trump administration threats to research funding.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said she foresees three interest rate cuts for this year, a view bolstered by the latest employment data.

Issuance for the week of Aug. 11 remains elevated at an estimated at $10.713 billion, with $8.857 billion of negotiated deals and $1.857 billion of competitive deals on tap, according to LSEG.

"Nothing could delay a restructuring or a consensual deal [more] than the existing board was doing," said Assured Guaranty CEO Dominic Frederico of the Trump administration's removal of Puerto Rico oversight board members.

Hospital acquisitions, expansions and the anticipation of federal policy changes has increased bond issuance from the California Health Facilities Financing Authority.

While UST yields "consolidate" following Friday's massive rally after the July jobs report, muni yields remain resilient, according to Kim Olsan, senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.

The municipal bond market is "doing pretty good for the moment," said Jeff Timlin, a managing partner at Sage Advisory.