The municipal bond market's attention turns back to business as about $12.4 billion of new supply is scheduled for sale this week.
The calendar consists of approximately $10.5 billion of negotiated deals and $1.9 billion of competitive sales, according to The Bond Buyer.
Primary
Among the top negotiated deals scheduled are:
- Texas Transportation Commission's $1.6 billion general obligation mobility fund bonds, scheduled to be priced by Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Wednesday.
- New York State Thruway Authority's $750 million general revenue refunding bonds to be priced by Goldman, Sachs on Wednesday;
- Miami-Dade County, Fla., $750 million aviation revenue refunding bonds, AMT and non-AMT, to be priced by Wells Fargo Securities on Wednesday; and
- Phoenix, Ariz., Civic Improvement's $160 million junior lien water system revenue bonds, to be priced by Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Wednesday.
The competitive sale calendar is dominated by New York, New Jersey and California:
- New York State Urban Development Corp. is offering for bid $372 million taxable state personal income tax revenue bonds, and $424 million Group A and $515 million Group B state personal income tax revenue bonds on Tuesday;
- New Jersey sells $525 million general obligation bonds on Wednesday; and
- Los Angeles, Calif., MTA will offer $140 million revenue bonds for sale on Wednesday.
November Volume
Long-term municipal bond issuance rose for the fourth month in a row as volume increased 15.3% in November, according to Thomson Reuters data.
New issue supply rose to $28.330 billion in November, a double digit increase from the $24.563 billion in 841 deals that were priced in November 2013, according to the final numbers. November's supply, however, was lower than October's total of $34 billion in issuance.
Tax-exempt issuance was up 18.9% in November to $25.684 billion in 842 deals, compared to $21.599 billion in 746 deals in the same period last year. Taxable sales rose 65.4% to $2.138 billion in 69 deals from 1.293 billion in 77 sales in November 2013.
Secondary Market
The bond markets had a regular trading day on Wednesday and an early close on Friday.
On Friday, municipal bond yields were lower, with the benchmark 10-year general obligation yield at 2.08% and 30-year GO at 3.01%, according to the final read of MMD's triple-A scale.
On Monday, Treasury prices were mostly higher, with the two-year note yield at 0.46%. The 10-year yield was at 2.17% while the 30-year was at 2.90%.
On Friday, the 10-year muni-to-Treasury ratio closed at 95.6%, up from 94.4% on Wednesday. The 30-year muni to Treasury ratio closed at 104.0%, compared with 103.3% on Wednesday.
Lipper Fund Flows
Late on Friday, weekly reporting municipal bond funds reported $564 million of net inflows in the week ended Nov. 26, compared with $590 million of inflows the previous week, according to data released by Lipper FMI. The four-week moving average remained positive at $472.1 million. Funds have seen inflows in 41 out of the 48 weeks in 2014.
MSRB: Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 7,136 trades on Friday for volume of $3.313 billion.
Most active on Friday, based on the number of trades, were the New Jersey State Trust Fund Authority's transportation program's 2014 Series AA 4¼s of 2044 which traded 46 times with an average price of 99.453 for an average yield of 4.28%.
Bond Buyer Indexes
The weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, was unchanged at 4.40% in the week ending Nov. 25.
The 20-Bond GO Index of 20-year general obligation yields rose one basis point, to 3.94%, from 3.93% the previous week. The 11-Bond GO Index of higher-grade 20-year GO yields also rose one basis point, to 3.79% from 3.78% the previous week, and the 25-bond Revenue Bond Index fell four basis points to 4.58% from 4.62% the previous week.
