California’s mammoth $2.2 billion sale of taxable general obligation bonds will be in the spotlight next week as the market prepares to see a hefty slate of new deals come its way.
Ipreo estimates weekly volume at $7.45 billion, up from a revised total of $4.46 billion in the prior week, according to updated data from Thomson Reuters. Average weekly volume in 2017 has been about $4.5 billion, off sharply from 2017’s average of over $6 billion a week.
Next week’s calendar is composed of $5.59 billion of negotiated deals and $1.86 billion of competitive sales.
Primary market
JPMorgan Securities is expected to price the California taxables for institutions on Tuesday.
Proceeds from the sale will refund debt and provide funding for 2,600 projects including high-speed rail, stem cell research and affordable housing.
The Golden State’s GOs are rated Aa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA-minus by S&P Global and Fitch Ratings.
Also out of California, Morgan Stanley is expected to price Sacramento’s $588 million of airport system revenue refunding bonds on Thursday.
In the competitive arena, Memphis, Tenn., is selling $315 million of Series 2018 general obligation improvement bonds on Tuesday.
The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.
Secondary market
“It’s dead as a doornail,” said one New York trader at midday. “It’s the first nice day and people are outside enjoying the weather,” he added, noting that municipals were slightly better as Treasuries were up, but said the secondary market was lackluster.
Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply at $10.87B
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $2.75 billion to $10.87 billion on Friday. The total is comprised of $4.00 billion of competitive sales and $6.86 billion of negotiated deals.
Week's actively traded issues
Some of the most actively traded bonds by type in the week ended April 13 were from New York, New Jersey and Illinois issuers, according to
In the GO bond sector, the New York City 3.375s of 2038 traded 80 times. In the revenue bond sector, the N.J. Tobacco Settlement Financing Corp. 5s of 2046 traded 41 times. And in the taxable bond sector, the Illinois 5.1s of 2033 traded 12 times.
Week's actively quoted issues
Puerto Rico and New York names were among the most actively quoted bonds in the week ended April 13, according to Markit.
On the bid side, the Puerto Rico Commonwealth GO 8s of 2035 were quoted by 45 unique dealers. On the ask side, the NYS Dormitory Authority revenue 5s of 2046 were quoted by 101 dealers. And among two-sided quotes, the Puerto Rico Commonwealth GO 8s of 2035 were quoted by 28 unique dealers.
Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 44,092 trades on Thursday on volume of $16.76 billion.
California, New York and Texas were the states with the most trades, with the Golden State taking 15.336% of the market, the Empire State taking 15.492% and the Lone Star State taking 10.423%
Lipper: Muni bond funds saw outflows
Investors in municipal bond funds continued to pull cash out of the funds ahead of tax day, according to Lipper data released on Thursday.
The weekly reporters saw $244.735 million of outflows in the week ended April 11, after outflows of $247.111 million in the previous week.
Exchange traded funds reported inflows of $126.962 million, after inflows of $25.411 million in the previous week. Ex-ETFs, muni funds saw $371.697 million of outflows, after inflows of $272.521 million in the previous week.
The four-week moving average turned negative at -$2.401 million, after being in the green at $143.568 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 $78.278 million in the latest week after inflows of $85.357 million in the previous week. Intermediate-term funds had outflows of $10.979 million after outflows of $29.999 million in the prior week.
National funds had outflows of $184.593 million after outflows of $166.142 million in the previous week. High-yield muni funds reported inflows of $172.574 million in the latest week, after inflows of $186.428 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.
