Markets

The deaths of people who ignored railroad crossing warning lights and barriers triggered new calls for state and federal regulators to strengthen railroad safety laws.

Technology has changed the muni market, but a complete restructuring of how bonds come to market is expected by analysts.

Municipal and Treasury bonds weakened as stocks surged to record highs in early trading.

Existing home sales fell 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted 5.57 million-unit rate in December from a revised 5.78 million sales pace the previous month, first reported as 5.81 million, the National Association of Realtors announced Wednesday.

The Sales Tax Securitization Corp.’s second offering faced a tougher market environment.

Underwriters reportedly offered spreads to the Municipal Market Data’s AAA benchmark scale of 55 basis points on serials ranging from 2031 to 2038.

The authority realized $534 million in present-value savings from those transactions in 2017, said finance director Patrick McCoy.

The cloud-based application is designed to help smaller firms access data on a broader universe of bonds.

Service sector companies “reported moderate growth in January,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing growth in the central Atlantic region was “slower” in January, according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index declined to 14 from 20.