Market Post: Munis Quiet as Dealers Are Light Heading Into Week

Opening like a typical Monday morning, the municipal bond market was very quiet, taking a breather after a big rally last week.

"It's very quiet," a New York trader said, adding the market is looking forward to big deals expected to price later this week. California and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund are expected to issue $2 billion each in bonds later this week.

"There are also not that many bonds around," the trader said. Most bonds in last week's new issues were gobbled up Thursday and Friday in the secondary.

In the primary market this week, $9.72 billion is expected to hit the market, up from last week's revised $5.21 billion. On the negotiated calendar, $7.79 billion should be issued, up from last week's revised $2.49 billion. In competitive deals, $1.93 billion is expected to be auctioned, down slightly from last week's revised $2.72 billion.

Municipal bond scales ended as much as 10 basis points stronger Friday after posting gains Wednesday and Thursday.

Yields on the Municipal Market Data triple-A GO scale ended as much as 10 basis points lower. The 10-year yield plummeted nine basis points to 1.71% while the 30-year yield dropped 10 basis points to 2.93%. The two-year yield fell two basis points to 0.29% after trading steady at 0.31% for 32 consecutive sessions.

Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors 5% coupon triple-A benchmark scale ended as much as nine basis points lower. The 10-year and 30-year yields fell nine basis points each to 1.79% and 3.05%, respectively. The two-year yield fell one basis point to 0.32% after trading steady at 0.33% for 27 sessions.

Treasuries were weaker slightly weaker Monday morning. The benchmark 10-year yield and 30-year yield rose one basis point each to 1.71% and 2.88%, respectively. The two-year was steady at 0.23%.

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