Few bid requests and trades colored an otherwise listless municipal market Friday morning.
The winter snowstorm that broadsided much of the Northeast Thursday evening has kept market participants from returning to their desks after a long holiday layover. Treasury yields have risen somewhat on the morning. But munis aren't following, so far, a trader in New York said.
"There's just
Some bid-wanteds have surfaced, he added, but not many.
New issuance should dribble into the market next week before the calendar hits its usual stride around mid-month.
Potential long-term muni volume for next week is expected to total $1.79 billion, up from sales of $10.8 million this week. That breaks down into $869.3 million scheduled for negotiated sale and $918.2 million set for auction on the competitive side of the ledger, Ipreo, The Bond Buyer and Thomson Reuters figures show.
Muni demand remains stubbornly feeble. Muni bond mutual funds recorded a 32nd consecutive week of outflows for the week of Jan. 1, according to Lipper FMI numbers.
Weekly reporting funds recorded outflows of $1.47 billion, with long-term muni bond funds shouldering the bulk of the losses, at $1.23 billion.
Muni bond funds hemorrhaged $1.49 billion the previous week, as many funds executed tax-loss swaps near the year end.
Yields on the Municipal Market Data triple-A scale have started Friday's session unchanged.
The triple-A, tax-exempt 10-year closed Thursday's session at 2.79%. The 30-year finished at 4.20%. The two-year yield closed at 0.35%.
Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors benchmark triple-A scale on Thursday remained mostly unchanged across the curve.
The 10-year triple-A yield landed at 2.79%, the 30-year at 4.41% and the two-year at 0.37%.
Treasury yields have so far weakened across the curve Friday. The 10-year yield has risen two three basis points to 3.01%. The 30-year yield has climbed two basis points to 3.95%. The two-year has inched up one basis point to 0.40%.
