Markets

The Federal Reserve’s Labor Market Conditions Index, a compilation of 19 labor market measures, dropped 1.8 points in June to 1.5, following a 0.5-point decline in May.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) slid to 133.07 in June from a downwardly revised 133.32 in May, the group announced Monday.

Municipal bond traders are set to see a chunky new issue slate head to market this week. Volume is estimated at $9.29 billion, composed of $7.94 billion of negotiated deals and $1.35 billion of competitive sales.

Municipal market participants will get back to work and find their hands full, with $9 billion of new issuance forecast for the primary market.

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form increased about $3.760 billion in April to a total of $249.587 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Friday.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch used a big second quarter to overtake Citi at the top of the municipal league tables, while Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs moved up in the first half rankings.

Moody's Investors Service said it has placed Chicago's Ba1 general obligation rating under review for possible downgrade.

Top-shelf municipal bonds were weaker at mid-session, according to traders, who were looking ahead to next week’s hefty new issue slate. Ipreo estimates volume at $9.29 billion, consisting of $7.94 billion of negotiated deals and $1.35 billion of competitive sales.

Municipal bond traders are finishing up a sleepy week where very little happened in the secondary and the primary was even quieter.

U.S. inflationary pressures were up slightly in June, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.