Several new deals in the tax-exempt marketplace Thursday showed munis remaining firm, even as some traders remained dubious ahead of the U.S. employment report Friday.
"It's pretty thin but after a few new issues it's looking firm," one Chicago-based trader said in an interview. "Credit spreads aren't really encouraging anyone to buy right now, it's very selective and spotty. I think there's a ton of inquiry right now for 11-17 year bonds if you can find the paper."
Four medium-sized deals that are among the week's biggest were slated for Thursday. The new issue calendar is light this week, with potential long-term volume expected to total $1.79 billion, up from a negligible $10.8 million last week.
JPMorgan Securities LLC won the bid for $205 million of San Francisco Unified School District general obligation bonds Thursday, the second-largest deal of the week. The bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service and AA-minus by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.
Yields ranged from 0.33% on 5%-coupon bonds maturing in 2016 to 4.326% on bonds maturing in 2033 with a 4.25% coupon. The bonds are callable at par in 2022.
In the negotiated market, Barclays priced $150 million of Massachusetts Development Finance Agency revenue bonds for Northeastern University. They are rated A2 by Moody's.
Yields on the bonds ranged from 0.40% for 5%-coupon bonds maturing in 2032 to 4.91% on 5%-coupon bonds maturing in 2044.
Yields on the Municipal Market Data triple-A scale Thursday firmed across the board, with bonds maturing in 2019 seeing the biggest drop in yield. Those bonds firmed by as much as four basis points, while bonds with maturities beyond 2019 saw yields fall as much as three basis points.
According to MMD, bonds with maturities within the next two years were steady, while those maturing from 2017 to 2018 fell as much as two basis points.
Treasury yields were steady to firmer Thursday morning. The 10-year and 30-year yields each slid two basis points to 2.98% and 3.88%, respectively. The two-year yield remained unchanged at 0.44%.
