Markets

Municipal bonds were stronger on Thursday as volatility in the stock market drove a flight to quality.

The $40 million offering will fund affordable housing projects

The South Carolina-owned agency’s A1 bond rating could be lowered due to threats from pending legislation and litigation, Moody’s said.

Just a few months after the implementation of new tax legislation, the municipal market has a different look and feel to it. Sean Carney, managing director and head of municipal strategy at BlackRock, discusses what impact the new tax laws have already had on munis, and what other ripple effects the market could see down the road. Hosted by Aaron Weitzman.

Demand for municipal bonds is high, with one factor keeping munis from the volatility being experienced in other markets.

The value of new factory orders saw a 1.6% increase in March, up seven of the last eight months.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a slower pace in April as the non-manufacturing index fell to 56.8 from 58.8 in March.

The U.S. international trade gap narrowed to $49.0 billion in March from $57.7 billion in February, data released by the Commerce Department Thursday morning showed.

First quarter nonfarm productivity rose by 0.7%, a slightly smaller gain than the 0.9% rise expected.

Initial claims U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by only 2,000 to 211,000 in the April 28 week, well below the 225,000 level expected by analysts.