Markets

Lower pump prices are boosting fuel consumption and vehicle miles traveled, leading to higher gas tax collections, a trend Moody’s Investors Service expects to continue over the near-term.

Municipal bond volume is poised to rebound in the coming week, led by a deal from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, stayed the same at 4.22% from the week ended April 2.

The more than $3.5 billion coming to market from Puerto Rico in coming months will be geared to non-traditional buyers, further distancing retail investors from debt they once coveted for its universal triple-tax exemption.

Counterparty Wells Fargo has so far refused to lower the rating threshold for three Chicago swaps that reached termination events through recent downgrades, a source said.

A bill proposing that the rates of the Florida Municipal Power Agency should be regulated by a state agency could jeopardize its credit ratings, according to Moody Investors Service.

As cash-strapped governments like Illinois and Chicago eye non-traditional revenues like gambling and marijuana, economists and government officials warned that so-called sin taxes are no panacea for budget shortfalls.

A San Francisco-based airline's April Fool's joke triggered a disclosure notice on EMMA; the trustee for bonds issued for the airport in Branson, Mo. Wanted to be sure bondholders new that Virgin America was just kidding about its plans to serve Branson.

Despite the bankruptcy of its current operator, the Indiana Toll Road continues to show the benefits of privatization, as does the new $5.7 billion bid for the road, Wells Fargo says in a new report.

For the week ended April 2, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, increased two basis points to 4.22% from 4.20% in the week ended March 26.