Municipal bond traders are set to see more deals head their way on Thursday as the market will see the last big sales of the week hit the screens.
Secondary market
Treasuries were narrowly mixed on Thursday. The yield on the two-year Treasury was unchanged from 1.35% on Wednesday, the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.33% from 2.32% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond increased to 2.90% from 2.89%.
Top-rated municipal bonds finished stronger on Wednesday. The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation fell two basis points to 2.03% from 2.05% on Tuesday, while the 30-year GO yield dropped three basis points to 2.83% from 2.86%, according to the final read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
On Wednesday, the 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 87.3%, compared with 87.0% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 97.8% versus 97.9%, according to MMD.
MSRB: Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 44,845 trades on Wednesday on volume of $13.63 billion.
Primary market
Goldman Sachs is set to price the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s $831.85 million of consolidated bonds for institutions after holding a one-day retail order period.
On Wednesday, the $731.85 million of Series 205 bonds were priced for retail as 5s to yield from 1.15% in 2019 to 2.99% in 2037. A split 2042 maturity was priced as 5 1/4s to yield 2.99% and as 5s to yield 3.09%; a 2047 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 3.14%. A 2018 maturity was offered as a sealed bid while the 2057 maturity was not offered to retail.
The $100 million of Series 206 bonds subject to the alternative minimum tax were priced for retail as 5s to yield from 2.64% in 2028 to 3.21% in 2037, 3.31% in 2042 and 3.36% in 2047.
The deal is rated Aa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA-minus by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.
Since 2007, the Port Authority has sold $23.61 billion of securities, with the greatest issuance in 2012 when it sold $3.69 billion. The authority has sold over $1 billion every year during that time span, with the lowest occurring in 2016 when it sold $1.10 billion. With Thursday’s sale, it is over the $1 billion mark for this year and has surpassed last year’s total issuance.
Raymond James & Associates is set to price
The deal will be offered to yield from 1.38% with a 5% coupon in 2019 to 3.80% with a 3.75% coupon in 2039 and to yield 3.86% with a 4% coupon in 2042; a 2018 maturity will be offered as a sealed bid, according to a premarketing scale provided by a source on Wednesday.
The deal is rated AA by S&P and A by Fitch.
Citigroup is expected to price the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s $770 million deal.
The issue consists of Series 2017B turnpike subordinate revenue bonds Subseries B1 and Subseries B2, rated A3 by Moody’s and A-minus by Fitch, and First Series of 2017 motor license fund enhanced turnpike special revenue refunding bonds, rated A2 by Moody’s and AA-minus by Fitch.
Piper Jaffray is expected to price the Greater Albany School District No. 89, Ore.’s $159 million of Series 2017 GOs.
The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA-plus by S&P.
In the competitive arena, the state of North Carolina will sell $107.01 million of Series 2017A general obligation refunding bonds.
The deal is rated triple-A by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch.
Bond Buyer reports 30-day visible supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar decreased $1.099 billion to $9.76 billion on Thursday. The total is comprised of $3.76 billion of competitive sales and $6.00 billion of negotiated deals.
Tax-exempt money market funds see inflows
Tax-exempt money market funds experienced inflows of $365.4 million, bringing total net assets to $130.18 billion in the week ended July 10, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. This followed an inflow of $645.7 million to $129.81 billion in the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 232 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds dropped to 0.39% from 0.43% in the previous week.
The total net assets of the 852 weekly reporting taxable money funds increased $1.88 billion to $2.468 trillion in the week ended July 11, after an outflow of $1.17 billion to $2.466 trillion the week before.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds inched up to 0.63% from 0.62% in the prior week.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,084 weekly reporting money funds increased $2.24 billion to $2.598 trillion in the week ended July 11, after outflows of $520.9 million to $2.596 trillion in the prior week.
