Municipal bond traders will be looking at three top-rated deals totaling more than $1 billion from the state of Maryland that go out for competitive bid on Wednesday.
Secondary Market
U.S. Treasuries were weaker on Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury rose to 1.37% from 1.33% on Tuesday, while the 10-year Treasury yield gained to 2.58% from 2.51%, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond increased to 3.17% from 3.11%.
Top-quality municipal bonds ended mixed on Tuesday. The 10-year benchmark muni general obligation yield on Tuesday was unchanged from 2.42% on Monday, while the yield on the 30-year GO rose one basis point to 3.19% from 3.18%, according to the final read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
On Tuesday, the 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 96.3% compared to 97.1% on Monday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 102.5%, versus 102.7%, according to MMD.
MSRB: Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 41,997 trades on Tuesday on volume of $9.66 billion.
Primary Market
In the competitive arena on Wednesday, the state of Maryland will be selling almost $1.15 billion of tax-exempt and taxable general obligation bonds in three separate sales.
The deals are comprised of $575 million of First Series A tax-exempt GOs, state and local facilities loan of 2017; $470.89 million of First Series C tax-exempt refunding GOs, state and local facilities loan of 2017; and $100 million of First Series B taxable GOs, state and local facilities loan of 2017.
All three deals are rated triple-A by Moody's Investors Service, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.
Since 2007, the Old Line State has sold about $13.82 billion of bonds, with the greatest issuance coming in 2014 when it offered $1.88 billion. The state has issued more than $1 billion a year since 2009.
In the negotiated sector, Citigroup is set to price the city of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's $342 million of Series 2017B power system revenue bonds for retail investors ahead of the institutional pricing on Thursday.
The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA-minus by S&P and Fitch.
Jefferies is expected to price the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's $300 million of transportation revenue green bonds for retail investors on Wednesday ahead of the institutional pricing on Thursday.
The deal is rated A1 by Moody's, AA-minus by S&P and A by Fitch.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar decreased $3.78 billion to $11.79 billion on Wednesday. The total is comprised of $4.03 billion of competitive sales and $7.76 billion of negotiated deals.
