Markets

The Montana Facility Finance Authority can directly issue debt for a broader array of organizations following a legislative change.

The $839.5 million Harris County Hospital District bond sale will tap $2.5 billion of voter-approved debt authorization for a $3.2 billion expansion project.

Student loan issuers are watching federal policy, from the Department of Education to the tax-exemption, to decide on the timing and size of their annual deals.

Munis yields followed UST yields higher Monday, rising one to four basis points, depending on the scale, but the asset class outperformed USTs.

Chicago released a request for qualifications for underwriting services on April 30, seeking to form new pools from which to choose firms to handle their bond sales.

"In our view, the worst for munis is behind us, at least for now; tax-exempts might continue to outperform, but only to a degree as technicals will remain somewhat challenging," Barclays strategists said.

Federal threats to grants and the tax exemption continue to push universities to the bond market. This week, it was MIT, Yale, and Suffolk University's turn.

The recent firmness in the market has been "much appreciated," said Shannon Rinehart, senior portfolio manager of municipal debt at Columbia Threadneedle Investments.

The rating agency expects a decline in U.S. air passenger numbers this year due to a deceleration in U.S. economic growth, it said in a report this week. 

The Commercial Metals Company and the West Virginia Economic Development Authority took a chance by coming to market with a tax-exempt $150 million junk-rated private activity bond sale financing a scrap metal steel mill during uncertain times for the construction industry.