Markets

Issuance for the week of Aug. 18 remains elevated at an estimated at $6.166 billion, with $5.065 billion of negotiated deals and $1.101 billion of competitive deals on tap, according to LSEG.

Hunt Memorial Hospital District's distressed finances led to downgrades to Ba3 by Moody's Ratings and B-plus by S&P Global Ratings, with both giving it a negative outlook.

The latest inflation report — the producer price index — threw a monkey wrench into expectations for a big rate cut next month, according to some economists, may put into question any easing in September.

Would-be underwriters of the general obligation bonds will be able to see where they've been ranked among all the bids, and to improve their bid accordingly.

Muni performance is likely to recover during the second half of the year, said Cooper Howard, a fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab.

Through June 30, BAM insured 11 transactions with par of $100 million or more, with four more deals coming since then, the company said.

The rating agency cited the MTA's congestion pricing program, ridership recovery, healthy liquidity levels, and continued state support for the higher rating.

"The combination of stronger core and softer headline readings has left some traders struggling for direction," said Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com. "There is a reason to be both bullish and bearish depending on which CPI reading you wish to focus on."

Citing a "meaningful improvement in the state's balance sheet," S&P Global Ratings Monday upgraded New Jersey to A-plus from A.

Returns for the month currently stand at 0.64%, which have "pushed muni returns back into the green with year-to-date returns of 0.09%," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.