Market participants will see another healthy slate of new issues come to market this week, with total volume estimated by Ipreo at $7.98 billion.
Secondary Market
U.S. Treasuries were narrowly mixed on Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury increased to 0.83% from 0.82% on Friday, while the 10-year Treasury yield was flat from 1.88% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose to 2.72% from 2.71%.
Top quality municipal bonds ended weaker on Friday. The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation rose one basis point to 1.65% from 1.64% on Thursday while the 30-year muni yield increased two basis points to 2.60% from 2.58%, according to the final read of the Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 87.6% on Friday compared with 87.6% on Thursday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 96.3% versus 95.8%, according to MMD.
MSRB Previous Session's Activity The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 32,004 trades on Friday on volume of $8.08 billion.
Previous Week's Actively Traded Issues
Revenue bonds comprised 53.59% of new issuance in the week ended April 22, up from 53.23% in the previous week, according to Markit. General obligation bonds comprised 39.88% of total issuance, down from 40.04%, while taxable bonds made up 6.53%, down from 6.72%.
Some of the most actively traded issues by type were from Massachusetts, Indiana and Nevada.
In the GO bond sector, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority 4s of 2040 traded 65 times. In the revenue bond sector, the Indiana Finance Authority 6s of 2039 traded 63 times. And in the taxable bond sector, the North Las Vegas, Nev. 6.572s of 2040 traded 19 times.
Primary Market
This calendar is divided into $6.35 billion of negotiated deals and $1.63 billion of competitive sales. Action is set to get underway on Tuesday.
Morgan Stanley is expected to price Ascension Health Alliance’s $1.1 billion deal this week.
The fixed-rate part of the sale is slated to sell on Tuesday through the Wisconsin Health & Educational Facilities Authority, the Alabama Special Care Facilities Authority of Birmingham, the Alabama Special Care Facilities Authority of Mobile, and the Michigan Finance Authority.
The system is also pricing $250 million of taxable bonds as soon as Tuesday. The overall deal also includes $575 million of variable-rate issuance, which will be sold by the Wisconsin and Michigan authorities, some on Tuesday and some the following week.
Ahead of the sale, Moody's Investors Service affirmed the system's Aa2 rating and Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings affirmed their AA-plus ratings on the system's post-issuance debt load of $6.8 billion.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is set to price the California Statewide Communities Development Authority’s $883 million of Series 2016A revenue bonds for the Loma Linda University Medical Center on Tuesday. The deal is rated BB by S&P and BB-plus by Fitch.
Roosevelt & Cross is expected to price the Hudson County Improvement Authority, N.J.’s $160 million of Series 2016C current interest and capital appreciation bonds, on Tuesday.
Piper Jaffray is set to price Ohlone Community College District, Calif.’s $155 million of GOs on Tuesday.
In the competitive arena on Tuesday, Miami-Dade County, Fla., will sell $350 million of Series 2016A general obligation refunding bonds under the Better Communities Program. The sale, which was postponed from the previous week, is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.
Also on Tuesday, the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority will competitively sell $150 million of Series 2016C taxable GO working cash notes. The deal is rated AA by Fitch.
The Horry County School District, S.C. will competitively sell $125 million of Series 2016 GOs. The bonds are rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $445.1 million to $12.37 billion on Monday. The total is comprised of $4.42 billion of competitive sales and $7.95 billion of negotiated deals.
Yvette Shields contributed to this report
