Markets

Fitch Ratings said the increased costs to complete reactors at Plant Vogtle drove the downgrades.

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form increased about $3.212 billion in August to a total of $254.293 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Thursday.

It will be the organization's first annual conference outside of Chicago.

Top-rated municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, traders said, as the week’s largest deal came to market — the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s $554 million sale.

The MSRB is now providing market-wide data on the most active securities and issuers.

Municipal bond traders are set to see the week’s largest deal come to market on Thursday — the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s $595 million offering.

Second quarter nonfarm productivity was revised up to a 1.5% rate of growth from a 0.9% gain previously reported, while unit labor costs were revised down to a 0.2% pace of growth from the 0.6% rise in the preliminary estimate.

Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits surged by 62,000 to 298,000 in the September 2 week, well above the 248,000 level expected and the highest level since the April 18, 2015 week, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.

A U.S. district court on Tuesday rejected that bond insurer Ambac Financial was liable for allegedly overly optimistic and misleading statements it had made about its insured Puerto Rico bonds.

Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., a subsidiary of Assured Guaranty Ltd., and Wasmer, Schroeder & Company announced the closing of AGM's acquisition of a minority interest in WSC on Wednesday.