The municipal bond market on Thursday is seeing the last of this week's big new issues priced. Municipal bonds were slightly lower at mid-session.
Primary Market
Morgan Stanley priced Bexar County, Texas' $262.105 million issue in four series.
The $86.48 million certificates of participation were priced to yield from 0.65% with a 3% coupon in 2017 to 2.86% with a 5% coupon in 2034; a 2040 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 3.08% and the 2016 maturity was offered as a sealed bid.
The $9.215 million unlimited tax refunding bonds were priced to yield from 0.98% with a 1.5% coupon in 2018 to 2.56% with a 5% coupon in 2028.
The $54.4 million limited tax refunding bonds were priced to yield from 0.65% with a 4% coupon in 2017 to 2.56% with a 5% coupon in 2028; the 2015-16 maturities were offered as sealed bids.
The $112.01 million flood control tax refunding bonds were priced to yield from 0.65% with a 5% coupon in 2017 to 3.21% with 4% coupon in 2034; a 2038 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 3.02%.
The issue is rated triple-A by Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings and AA-plus by Standard & Poor's.
JPMorgan priced the Omaha Public Power District, Neb., $351.325 million electric system revenue bonds in two series.
The $95.975 million Series A bonds were priced to yield from 1.92% with a 3% coupon in 2022 to 2.91% with a 5% coupon in 2034; a 2039 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 3.10% and a 2045 maturity was prices as 5s to yield 3.20%.
The $255.35 million Series B bonds were priced to yield from 0.87% with a 3% coupon in 2018 to 2.91% with a 5% coupon in 2034; a 2039 maturity was prices as 4s to yield 3.55% and the 2017 maturity was offered as a sealed bid.
The issue is rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA by S&P.
In the competitive sector, Citigroup Global Markets won New Hampshire's $55.265 million general obligation capital improvement bonds with a true interest cost of 2.6204%. The bonds were priced to yield from 0.14% with 3% coupon in 2015 to 2.71% with a 5% coupon in 2034. The issue is rated Aa1 by Moody's, AA by S&P and AA-plus by Fitch.
Secondary Market
High-grade municipal bond prices were lower on Thursday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year general obligation was up as much as one basis point from 2.01% on Wednesday, while the yield on 30-year GOs was up as much as two basis points from 2.90% on Wednesday, according to the midday read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
Treasury prices were lower on Thursday, with the two-year note yield rising to 0.61% from 0.58% on Wednesday. The 10-year yield rose to 2.21% from 2.18% while the 30-year gained to 2.86% from 2.85% on Wednesday.
The 10-year muni-to-Treasury ratio closed on Wednesday at 93.1% versus 91.0% on Tuesday; the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio closed at 102.6%, compared with 101.5% on Tuesday.
MSRB: Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 42,630 trades for Wednesday on volume of $16.335 billion. Most active on Wednesday, based on the number of trades, was the Bay Area Toll Authority's toll bridge revenue bonds, San Francisco Bay Area, 5s of 2054, which traded 113 times with an average price of 110.661 and an average yield of 3.703. The second most active was the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority transportation program bonds, Series AA 4 1/4s of 2044, which traded 105 times with an average price of 100.131 and an average yield of 4.21%.
