Markets

The Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners unanimously approved three ordinances laying the groundwork for up to $37 million new money bonds and a tender.

Despite losses, munis are still outperforming USTs and corporates on a month-to-date and year-to-date basis, noted Cooper Howard, a fixed-income strategist at Charles Schwab.

The consumer price index number further complicates market expectations of Fed rate cuts and muni investors may want "to keep their powder dry" until they have a better idea of the Fed's timing, said CreditSights' Pat Luby.

The muni market will see "continued strength," said Wesly Pate, senior portfolio manager at Income Research + Management, largely due to a a dearth of new-issue supply.

Oklahoma is on a roll, notching its third positive rating outlook since July with the latest move coming from Fitch Ratings.

"Even though it is hard to see the market falling out of bed and underperforming in the near term, we are more cautious going into March," Barclays PLC said in a report.

The state expects to release a RFQ for interested consortiums later this year and has named I-24 as the first toll lane project.

Ex-IFS Securities head of fixed income Keith Wakefield committed criminal securities and wire fraud from 2017 to 2019, a federal jury in Illinois found.

Municipals were steady to improved in spots in secondary trading as another day of sizable new-issues were well-received in the primary market.

"Jason has a proven record as an outstanding leader who brings clarity, decisiveness and expertise to his role with our Fixed Income Capital Markets division," said HilltopSecurities CEO Brad Winges.