Bond Buyer Indexes Rise Despite Modest Late-Week Rally

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes rose this week, despite a modest late-week rally that ended a near two-week string of losses.

"Munis had a little life the second half of the week," said Evan Rourke, portfolio manager at Eaton Vance Asset Management.

"The market has a nice feel to it now," Rourke said. "It's not on a great volume, but it seems like any new issues coming to the market are being well received. Perhaps there's some Feb. 1 money that people are starting to commit, but it looks like we're closing out the month on a solid note."

Rourke said that the muni market has also "had a surprisingly light calendar in general."

"Credit spreads are still a little wider, so maybe if you have a weaker credit, that may be off, but the high grade scale is at least unchanged, if not better," he said.

The municipal market was unchanged to slightly weaker Friday, closing out a week in which yields rose consistently, reversing the pronounced gains seen earlier in January. Munis were then unchanged with a slightly weaker tone Monday.

However, on Tuesday, tax-exempts were slightly firmer, posting gains for the first time in nearly two weeks. On Wednesday, munis were unchanged to slightly firmer, while the Federal Open Market Committee opted to hold the federal funds rate target unchanged at a 0% to 0.25% range at its policy-setting meeting.

On Thursday, the municipal market was slightly firmer. Traders said tax-exempt yields were lower by one or two basis points overall.

The Bond Buyer 20-bond index of general obligation yields rose three basis points this week to 5.16%. This is the highest level for the index since Dec. 31, 2008, when it was 5.24%.

The 11-bond index of higher-grade 20-year GO yields rose four basis points this week to 4.94%. This is the highest the index has been since Dec. 31, 2008 , when it was 5.01%.

The revenue bond index, which measures 30-year revenue bond yields, rose seven basis points this week to 5.89%. This is the highest level for the index since Jan. 8, when it was 5.90%.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield rose 25 basis points this week to 2.83%, which is the highest the yield has been since Nov. 25, 2008, when it was 3.09%. The 10-year note's yield has risen 63 basis points in the past two weeks and 78 basis points since its most recent low of 2.05% on Dec. 18, 2008.

The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond yield rose 32 basis points this week to 3.57%. This is the highest the yield has been since Nov. 25, when it was 3.62%. The 30-year bond's yield has risen 71 basis points in the past two weeks and 104 basis points from its all-time low of 2.53% on Dec. 18, 2008.

The Bond Buyer one-year note index rose 16 basis points this week to 0.93%, which is the highest it has been since Jan. 7, when it was 1.09%.

The weekly average yield to maturity on The Bond Buyer 40-bond municipal bond index finished at 5.79%, up nine basis points from last week's 5.70%.

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