The tax-exempt market breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday morning after a selloff Tuesday that left yields as much as nine basis points higher.
Wednesday morning, tax-exempts traded flat. "There is a little bounce back today, but it's still not great," a New York trader said, adding yields were steady.
In the primary market Friday, Jefferies bought $31.2 million of Ramapo, N.Y., short-term bond anticipation notes, following a cancellation of a long-term competitive sale due to an FBI raid on the town hall May 15. The notes yielded 3.5% with a 4.7% coupon in 2014.
Later Wednesday, JPMorgan is expected to price for retail $500 million of New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority revenue bonds, rated A2 by Moody's Investors Service and A by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings. Institutional pricing is expected Thursday.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is expected to price $368.7 million of triple-A rated Columbus, Ohio, general obligation refunding bonds. The deal consists of $326.8 million of tax-exempts and $41.9 million of taxable bonds.
In the competitive market, Los Angeles Community College District is expected to auction $306.9 million of general obligation bonds, rated Aa1 by Moody's and AA by Standard & Poor's. The deal will consist of two pricings: $250 million and $56.9 million.
Yields on the Municipal Market Data scale ended Tuesday as much as nine basis points higher. The 10-year yield jumped nine basis points to 1.99% and the 30-year yield increased seven basis points to 3.15%. The two-year finished flat at 0.29% for the third session.
Yields on the Municipal Market Advisors 5% scale ended as much as eight basis points higher. The 10-year yield jumped eight basis points to 2.05% and the 30-year yield climbed seven basis points to 3.26%. The two-year was unchanged at 0.35% for the third session.
The Treasury yield curve flattened Wednesday morning. The two-year yield rose one basis point to 0.31%. The benchmark 10-year yield slid one basis point to 2.14% and the 30-year yield fell three basis points to 3.28%.
