NEW YORK – The tax-exempt market is having a hard time getting back to work on the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Munis are “dead” according to a trader in New York. “Equities are taking the center stage this morning.”
In Monday morning trading, munis were weakening, according to the Municipal Market Data scale. Yields on the six- to 14-year maturities rose up to two basis points, while yields on the 15- to 19-year maturities rose up to three basis points. Beyond the 20-year maturity, yields increased between two and five basis points.
On Friday, munis finished flat across the curve, unchanged from Wednesday. The two-year muni closed 0.42% for its 17th consecutive trading session. The 10-year finished at 2.21% and the 30-year closed at 3.75%.
In the primary market, approximately $5.89 billion of muni bonds should hit the market, up from a revised $1.29 billion last week. About $5.4 billion of negotiated deals are expected along with $489.1 million of competitive bids.
In economic news, new single-family housing sales were up 1.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 in October, the Commerce Department reported. It is the highest rate since May, when it was 308,000.
The October rate didn’t meet expectations. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters projected a 313,000 median annual rate.
