Municipal bond buyers hungry for issuance had a wealth of new paper to choose from this past week, culminating today with large deals from Connecticut and Houston.
Long-term issuance as of Wednesday was $9.03 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data, the largest weekly slate of bonds so far this year.
The largest deal in the negotiated market Thursday is $692.9 million of Houston Combined Utility System bonds. The issue consists of first lien revenue refunding bonds rated AA by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
Yields on the Houston deal, led by Siebert Brandford Shank & Co., ranged from 0.19% with a 2% coupon in 2015 to 3.38% with a 5% coupon in 2028. The bonds are callable at par in 2024.
JPMorgan Securities led a separate Houston deal for the same issuer, $606 million of taxable bonds with maturities from 2015 to 2028.
Also in the negotiated market, Connecticut was scheduled to price $400 million of general obligation bonds for institutions. Bank of America Merrill Lynch first offered the bonds to retail investors through a two-day order period that began on Tuesday.
The sale includes $300 million of GOs maturing in 2034, and $100 million of Securities Industry and Financial markets Association index bonds maturing in 2023.
Citigroup Global Markets won the bid for Wednesday's issuance of Sequoia Union High School District, Calif.'s $105.8 million general obligation bonds. Yields ranged from 0.10% with a 2% coupon in 2014 to 3.93% with a 4% coupon in 2035. The AA rated bonds are callable at par in 2024.
Positive news came for the economy Thursday as the Department of Labor announced falling jobless claims and rebounding retail sales.
Jobless claims for the week of March 8 fell by 9,000 to 315,000, according to the report, pushing the four-week average to 2.916 million, 50,000 less than it was a month ago. As an additional boost to the economy, the retail sales report for February showed retail sales had increased by 0.3% after dropping by 0.6% in January and 0.1% in December.
The Southern California Public Power Authority's also issued $319.3 million of bonds through Goldman, Sachs & Co. The tax-exempt portion, $152.5 million, came with yields of 3.51% with a 5% coupon in 2030 to 3.96% with a 5% coupon in 2038.
