Markets

Neither budget gridlock nor bankruptcy nor Puerto Rican default can stay the municipal investor from his appointed rounds.

In the week ended June 30, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index fell five basis points to 3.75% from 3.80% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

State bonded debt was relatively flat in 2015, according to a report released this week by Moody’s Investors Service.

In one of the biggest rallies in recent memory, municipal bonds surged on Friday after Britain voted to leave the European Union. Yields on some top-rated municipals fell by as much as 17 basis points to record low levels, in a move that some analysts said signaled yields will remain near all-time lows for longer than anyone had expected, and that negative U.S. interest rates may be on the horizon.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices was steady at 3.80% from the previous week.

Bond industry veteran Tony Miscimarra is the new managing director of business development at BondWave LLC, as the financial technology company and registered investment advisor prepares to launch a suite of new technology products.

In the latest installment of Muni Minute — The Bond Buyer's 60-second video series that examines a top municipal market story that will impact the coming week — we take a look at the debate in the New Jersey legislature over whether to implement a gas tax hike to pay for the state's Transportation Trust Fund before the program expires on June 30.

The political and financial dysfunction of Illinois cost the state $12 million on Thursday’s $550 million bond pricing compared to its previous sale in January, according to a report from the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

Illinois paid a steeper penalty to borrow Thursday after a fresh round of downgrades but a municipal market offering historically low yields helped disguise the spreads.

In the week ended June 16, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, was six basis points lower to 3.80%, from 3.86% the previous week.