Calif. Muni FA, Ala. Gas deals top hefty $9.6B municipal bond calendar

bb-060118-munimid

Municipal bonds were mostly weaker Friday after a strong employment report and ahead of next week’s almost $10 billion new issue slate.

Ipreo estimates weekly volume at $9.56 billion, up from a revised total of $2.16 billion this week, according to updated data from Thomson Reuters. Next week’s calendar is composed of $6.54 billion of negotiated deals and $3.02 million of competitive sales.

BB060418-MUN

Secondary market
Municipal bonds were mostly weaker on Friday, according to a midday read of the MBIS benchmark scale. Benchmark muni yields rose as much as two basis points in the one- to 28-year maturities and fell less than one basis point in the 29- and 30-year maturities. High-grade munis were also weaker, with yields calculated on MBIS’ AAA scale rising as much as two basis points all across the curve.

Municipals were weaker along Municipal Market Data’s AAA benchmark scale, which showed yields rising two to four basis points in the 10-year general obligation muni and also gaining two to four basis points in the 30-year muni maturity.

Treasury bonds were weaker as stocks surged after a strong employment report for May. Non-farm payrolls rose 223,000 in May, higher than an expected gain of 190,000. The jobless rate fell to 3.8% in May, matching April 2000 as the lowest rate since 1969.

On Thursday, the 10-year muni-to-Treasury ratio was calculated at 84.8% while the 30-year muni-to-Treasury ratio stood at 95.2%, according to MMD. The muni-to-Treasury ratio compares the yield of tax-exempt municipal bonds with the yield of taxable U.S. Treasury with comparable maturities. If the muni/Treasury ratio is above 100%, munis are yielding more than Treasury; if it is below 100%, munis are yielding less.

Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 42,276 trades on Thursday on volume of $14 billion.

California, New York and Texas were the states with the most trades, with the Golden State taking 13.671% of the market, the Empire State taking 13.626% and the Lone Star State taking 9.633%.

Week's actively traded issues
Some of the most actively traded bonds by type in the week ended June 1 were from California and Illinois issuers, according to Markit.

In the GO bond sector, the Santa Rosa High School District, Calif., 4s of 2043 traded 22 times. In the revenue bond sector, the Regents of the University of California 5s of 2048 traded 57 times. And in the taxable bond sector, the Illinois 5.1s of 2033 traded 34 times.

Week's actively quoted issues
California names were among the most actively quoted bonds in the week ended June 1, according to Markit.

On the bid side, the California taxable 7.55s of 2039 were quoted by 46 unique dealers. On the ask side, the California taxable 3.5s of 2028 were quoted by 94 dealers. And among two-sided quotes, the California taxable 7.55s of 2039 were quoted by 31 dealers.

Primary market
Topping next week's negotiated sector is a $1.2 billion deal from the California Municipal Finance Authority.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is expected to price the Series 2018 A and B senior lien revenue bonds for the automated people mover project on Tuesday.

The deal is rated BBB-plus by Fitch Ratings.

Morgan Stanley is set to price the Southeast Alabama Gas Supply District’s $900 million of gas supply revenue bonds for Project No. 2 on Thursday.

The deal is rated A3 by Moody’s Investors Service and A by Fitch.

JPMorgan Securities is expected to price the Port of Seattle’s $567.38 million of Series 2018 A and B intermediate lien revenue bonds subject to the alternative minimum tax on Tuesday.

The deal is rated A1 by Moody’s, A-plus by S&P Global Ratings and AA-minus by Fitch.

BAML is set to price Connecticut’s $500 million of Series 2018 C and D general obligation bonds on Tuesday after a one-day retail order period.

The deal is rated A1 by Moody’s, A-plus by S&P and Fitch and AA-minus by Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

On the competitive front, the New Mexico Finance Authority is selling $423.75 million of Series 2018A state transportation refunding revenue subordinate lien bonds on Thursday.

The deal is rated AA by S&P.

On Tuesday, Ohio is competitively selling $300 million of Series 2018A common schools GOs. The deal is rated AA-plus by Fitch.

Also on Tuesday, Clark County School District, Nev., is competitively selling $200 million of Series 2018A limited tax GO building bonds.

Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply at $12.58B
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $1.95 billion to $12.58 billion on Friday. The total is comprised of $5.50 billion of competitive sales and $7.07 billion of negotiated deals.

Lipper: Muni bond funds saw inflows
Investors in municipal bond funds again showed confidence and put cash into the funds in the latest reporting week, according to Lipper data released on Thursday.

The weekly reporters saw $77.249 million of inflows in the week ended May 30, after inflows of $232.801 million in the previous week.

bb-060118-lipper

Exchange traded funds reported inflows of $165.757 million, after inflows of $105.053 million in the previous week. Ex-ETFs, muni funds saw $88.509 million of outflows, after inflows of $127.748 million in the previous week.

The four-week moving average remained positive at $171.080 million, after being in the green at $65.590 million in the previous week. A moving average is an analytical tool used to smooth out price changes by filtering out fluctuations.

Long-term muni bond funds had inflows of $165.844 million in the latest week after inflows of $154.282 million in the previous week. Intermediate-term funds had inflows of $129.236 million after inflows of $141.916 million in the prior week.

National funds had inflows of $328.046 million after inflows of $301.718 million in the previous week. High-yield muni funds reported inflows of $224.989 million in the latest week, after inflows of $166.008 million the previous week.

Data appearing in this article from Municipal Bond Information Services, including the MBIS municipal bond index, is available on The Bond Buyer Data Workstation. Click here for a brief tour of the Workstation, or contact Vanessa Kim at 212-803-8474 for more information.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Primary bond market Secondary bond market Municipal bond funds State of California State of New York State of Texas State of Ohio State of Connecticut
MORE FROM BOND BUYER