NEW YORK – After a big rally early in the week and a mixed day for the tax-exempt market Wednesday, munis are taking it easy Thursday.
“Munis are quiet,” a New York trader said. Many of the deals expected to come to market Thursday were pushed up a day and priced Wednesday, further quieting muni land.
The Municipal Market Data scale had yet to be updated by press time. On Wednesday, the two-year MMD yield closed at 0.30%, matching its record low set Oct. 10. The 10-year closed steady at 1.68%, one basis point higher than its low of 1.67% set Jan. 18. The 30-year yield rose to three basis points to 3.17%, closing above its record low of 3.14% set Tuesday.
Treasuries were steady. The two-year yield was flat at 0.23% while the benchmark 10-year yield was steady at 1.85%. The 30-year was flat at 3.02%.
JPMorgan is expected to price for institutions $150.4 million of California Department of Veterans Affairs home purchase revenue bonds, after a retail order period Wednesday. The credit is rated Aa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, AA by Standard & Poor’s, and AA-minus by Fitch Ratings.
In the retail pricing, yields ranged from 2.25% at par in 2018 to 3.875% at par in 2028. Portions of debt maturing in 2028 were not offered for retail. The bonds are callable at par in 2021.
In economic news, seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims fell 12,000 to 367,000 for the week ending Jan. 28. That drop followed the previous week’s revised level of 379,000 the Labor Department said. Economists expected 370,000 claims.
Continuing claims fell 130,000 to 3.437 million for the week ending Jan. 21, its lowest level since September 2008. Economists expected 3.560 million continuing claims.
“Initial jobless claims have averaged 376,000 in January, almost identical to the average for December,” wrote economists at RDQ Economics. “There are a number of technical issues likely to affect January employment – reversal of December courier job increases, unseasonably warm weather, new industry classifications, benchmark revisions, new seasonal adjustment factors – but we continue to look for non-farm payrolls to have risen 185,000 in January with private payrolls up 200,000.”
