The market is back in full swing on Thursday with the largest deals scheduled in the primary this week expected to price. Investors can choose between the $1 billion Hawaii general obligation bonds or the $1.2 billion California GOs, as well as several smaller issuances. Investors are also helped by the fact the muni market continues to hold steady after selling off last week, meaning traders can buy bonds at cheaper levels than they have been able to in previous weeks.
Primary
- The $1 billion Hawaii GO sale is scheduled to enter its institutional order period. The $775.2 million tax-exempt portion of the deal had a retail order period on Wednesday and investors said there was a lot of retail interest in the bonds. The tax-exempt part of the deal is made up of $575 million GO and $200.2 million GO refunding bonds. The $224.8 million taxable part of the deal did not have a retail order period. This section of the deal includes $193.9 million GO refunding bonds, another $5.9 million GO refunding bonds, and $25 million GOs. All the bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service and AA by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch will price $196 million bonds for the Hospital Authority of Hall County and the city of Gainesville Northeast Georgia Health System. The bonds are rated AA-minus by S&P and Fitch.
- In the competitive market a three-part $1.2 billion California GO deal is up for auction. The deal consists of $270 million taxable GO bonds, $304.3 million tax-exempt GO refunding bonds, and $630 million tax-exempt GO bonds. All the bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody's, A-plus by S&P and A by Fitch.
Scales
Municipal bonds held steady across the curve on Thursday, according to Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
Treasuries on the other hand opened mixed on Thursday morning with the two-year note yield dropping by one basis point to 0.54% from Wednesday's close. The 10-year held steady at 2.37% and the 30-year weakened by one basis point to 3.10%.
