Market Post: Muni Yields Rise on Trade-By-Appointment Market

The tax-exempt market headed weaker Tuesday, though traders said volume was light and finding a counterparty was difficult.

"It's trade by appointment only," a Boston trader said. "There is no positioning and you have to try to find someone on the other side of the trade."

As many traders said throughout the day, volume was light and muni prices fell because of Treasuries. "With no bonds trading you're just taking the bonds down in sympathy with Treasuries but there is not a lot of transparency," this trader said. "There is not the higher quality flow that you see on a regular basis. So it's hard to see whether things are off five basis points or not."

Friday, yields on the triple-A Municipal Market Data scale ended mostly flat. The 10-year was steady at 2.94% for the third session and the 30-year was also unchanged for the third session at 4.45%. The two-year finished flat at 0.43% for the 33rd straight session.

Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors scale ended mostly flat across the curve Friday. The 10-year yield rose one basis point to 3.09% and the 30-year closed steady at 4.54% for the third session. The two-year closed unchanged at 0.55% for the 11th session.

Treasuries continued to weaken Tuesday afternoon. The 10-year and 30-year yields rose 12 basis points each to 2.87% and 3.80%, respectively. The two-year yield increased three basis points to 0.42%.

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