Markets

As the market prepares for 2025, there's a lot of uncertainty around what the new administration will mean for the macroeconomic environment and interest rates, the latter of which may be impacted by policy around the deficit, said Steve Shutz, portfolio manager and director of tax-exempt fixed income at Brown Advisory.

Despite the approval, hurdles remain, including the team's request for more money from the government, which they say delayed approval of the bonds, leading to additional construction costs.

The NFMA has floated best disclosure practices for public power agencies that ask for more data on climate and resiliency goals.

Analysts warn the many one-time measures in the budget Mayor Brandon Johnson narrowly got through City Council will make the 2026 budget even harder.

With investors now anticipating Wednesday's expected rate cut may be the last one for a while, "an overall bullish paradigm has been seriously weakened," noted Matt Fabian, a partner at Municipal Market Analytics, Inc.

Concerns are rising as the Congressional Budget Office has issued a report laying out the benefits of eliminating tax-exempt qualified private activity bonds.

Justices appeared open to narrowing the scope of federal environmental impact reviews during oral arguments on a bond-financed Utah railway to move crude oil.

As investors start shutting down for the year, there may be some mixed sessions ahead "especially for any accounts that find themselves as forced sellers," Birch Creek Capital said.

Overall state and local government credit conditions will remain neutral, Fitch Ratings says, though some storm clouds may be on the horizon.

Supply falls ahead of the final Federal Open Market Committee meeting of 2024 and the holidays but issuance still breaks records. The lighter calendar should provide support for the secondary market in the final weeks of the year.