Prices of top-shelf municipal bonds were lower at mid-session, traders said, as yields on some maturities were up as much as two basis points.
Primary Market
On Tuesday, New Mexico competitively sold $150 million of unlimited tax general obligation capital projects bonds. Morgan Stanley won the GOs with a true interest cost of 1.6893%.
The bonds were priced as 5s to yield from 1.20% in 2020 to 2.05% in 2025.
Fiscal Strategies was financial advisor on the sale, which was rated triple-A by Moody's Investors Service and AA-plus by Standard & Poor's.
The Land of Enchantment State is not often in the market. Since 1995, New Mexico has sold only about $1.675 billion of GOs and has not sold bonds competitively since March 19, 2013. That sale of $137.22 million GOs was won by William Blair with a TIC of 1.8019%. Prior to that, New Mexico last competitively sold $18.645 million of GOs on April 19, 2011, to Robert W. Baird with a TIC of 2.4365%.
Secondary Market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation was up as much as two basis points from 2.05% on Friday, while the yield on 30-year GO was also up as much as two basis points from 2.87%, according a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
Treasury prices were weaker. The two-year Treasury note's yield rose to 0.67% on Tuesday from 0.63% on Friday, while the 10-year yield jumped to 2.09% from 2.02% and the 30-year yield increased to 2.68% from 2.63%.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 101.0% on Friday versus 103.0% on Thursday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 109.1% compared to 111.6%.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar rose $337.6 million to $9.533 billion on Tuesday. The total is comprised of $2.072 billion competitive sales and $7.461 billion of negotiated deals.
MSRB Reports Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 31,418 trades on Friday on volume of $7.935 billion.
Most active on Friday, based on the number of trades, was the Pennsylvania Higher Educational Facilities Authority's 2015 Series A revenue bonds for Thomas Jefferson University 4s of 2045, which traded 322 times at an average price of 99.647, with an average yield of 4.013%.
