Markets

Healthcare issuance is up 122.2% year-over-year through April, rising to $9.062 billion through the first four months of 2024 from $4.078 billion over the same time period in 2023, LSEG data shows.

Issuance has increased, but financial performance and ratings are likely to stay volatile.

Munis posted losses in April, returning negative 1.24%. The asset class is also seeing losses of 1.62% year-to-date.

Alaska's efforts to manage its cyclical revenues brought an upgrade from S&P Global Ratings and positive outlook from Moody's Ratings.

The deal, originally planned at $1.5 billion in three maturities, was downsized and restructured and then restructured again into one 10-year bullet maturity.

While munis were steady Tuesday, yields have risen over the past several weeks as "larger supply is part of a strong [year-to-date] trend for tax-exempts," said Matt Fabian, a partner at Municipal Market Analytics.

Bonds from the authorization will likely be broken over three separate sales.

Preliminary issuance figures for April are at $39.39 billion, up 18% from April 2023.

The Virginia Resources Authority and the Virginia Housing Development Authority have deals on tap while gilt-edged Delaware is selling its GO debt.

"Bond market investors are all wishing that April was behind us as they are anxious to hear the Fed's statement at its next FOMC meeting," noted BofA Global Research. "The statement should be no surprise as the market consensus has converged to 'higher for longer' rates.