Markets

The muni bond market remains strong, supported by Treasury market strength, said Anders S. Persson, Nuveen's chief investment officer for global fixed income, and Daniel J. Close, Nuveen's head of municipals.

While Trump's trade war has roiled markets, unnerved foreign governments and provoked criticism from leading economists, S&P affirmed its AA-plus rating for the U.S. — a score it's given since 2011, when it first downgraded the world's largest economy from AAA.

"If unfavorable economic numbers ... are released next month, we should expect a hold on any rate cuts and a possible rate hike to follow, putting a damper on any positive returns for the rest of the year," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

Doe announced his decision to hand over the day-to-day duties to his partners in a client email on Friday.

Electric power bond issuance was up 47.8% and educatron issuance was up 31.6% from the first half of 2024.

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.