Markets

Muni yields dropped five basis points for the second day in a row, as volume and participants were scarce.

The USDOT's approval of the allocation triggered threats from opponents that legal action will be taken.

Yields have gone further south as minimal action occurs in the primary and the secondary, with most market participants on hiatus until after the New Year.

Texas service sector activity “continued to increase in December,” according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index held at 24.4.

The consumer confidence index decreased to 122.1 in December from a revised 128.6 last month, The Conference Board reported Wednesday.

Pending home sales rose 0.2% to an index reading of 109.5 in November, from an unrevised 3.5% gain to 109.3 in October.

The new tax law and imminent scarcity threaten to change market dynamics for muni buyers in 2018.

Municipal bonds strengthened Tuesday as the primary market shifted to holiday mode after breaking the December record for issuance.

The number of people employed in Puerto Rico during November fell 1.8% from July.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, “expanded strongly in December.”