With most of the week's primary issuance out of the way, traders focused on the secondary market Thursday.
"The New Jersey Turnpike Authority bonds freed up today to trade and they are trading up a few basis points," a New York trader said.
Still, the rest of the market fell "mushy" as "it was feeling up, but people are still hitting bids," the trader said.
In the primary market, Barclays priced for institutions $500 million of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority transportation revenue bonds, rated A2 by Moody's Investors Service and A by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings. Pricing details were not yet available.
On Wednesday, municipal bond market scales ended weaker after posting gains Monday and Tuesday.
Yields on the MMD triple-A GO scale ended as much as one basis point higher. The 10-year yield and 30-year yield rose one basis point each to 1.95% and 3.10%, respectively. The two-year finished flat at 0.31% for the 22nd consecutive session.
Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors 5% coupon triple-A benchmark scale also ended as much as one basis point higher. The 10-year and 30-year yields rose one basis point each to 2.01% and 3.19%, respectively. The two-year held at 0.33% for the 17th session.
Treasuries continued to mostly gain Thursday afternoon. The benchmark 10-year yield dropped two basis points to 1.93% while the 30-year yield fell three basis points to 3.16%. The two-year yield rose one basis point to 0.26%.
