NEW YORK – Trading is selective in the tax-exempt secondary market as participants focus on what the primary market will bring.
“Things have been a little quiet for a Tuesday,” said a trader in New York. “We are coming off a shortened week from last week and people are just waiting to see what’s going on out of the global economies.”
He added “trading has been light to selective” and there were a lot of bids-wanted from a wide range of customers. “But people are just being selective at what they’re looking at.”
Munis were steady to slightly weaker in Tuesday early afternoon trading, according to the Municipal Market Data scale. Yields inside the 10-year spot were steady and yields beyond that rose up to one basis point.
On Monday, the two-year muni closed at 0.42% for its 18th consecutive trading session. The 10-year yield finished up one basis point to 2.22% and the 30-year yield closed up four basis points to 3.79%.
Treasuries were firming in Tuesday early afternoon trading after weakening in the morning. The benchmark 10-year yield fell two basis points from the morning to 2.00% but was still up from yesterday’s close. The 30-year yield fell two basis points from morning’s level to 2.95% but was still higher than the yield on Monday’s close. The two-year yield was flat at 0.27%.
In the primary market, Citi priced for retail $1 billion of Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. sales tax revenue bonds. The credit is rated Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service, AA by Standard & Poor’s and AA-minus by Fitch Ratings. Details were not immediately available.
Goldman, Sachs & Co. priced for retail $500 million Connecticut special tax obligation bonds. The bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody’s and AA by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch. Pricing information was not available by press time.
Ramirez & Co. priced for retail $483.9 million of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority transportation revenue bonds. The bonds are rated A2 by Moody’s and A by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch. Details were not available.
