The municipal bond market was wrapping up a short but action-packed week marked by a surprising presidential election outcome and the passage of billions of dollars in bond referendums.
The market will be closed on Friday in observance of Veterans Day. Trading will resume on Monday.
Secondary Market
U.S. Treasuries were weaker on Thursday. The yield on the two-year rose to 0.90% from 0.89% on Wednesday, the 10-year Treasury grew to 2.11% from 2.07% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up to 2.90% from 2.88%.
Top-rated municipal bonds ended sharply weaker on Wednesday. The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation rose 15 basis points to 1.86% from 1.71% on Tuesday, while the yield on the 30-year increased 15 basis points to 2.69% from 2.54%, 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 89.9% compared to 91.7% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 93.6% versus 96.7%, according to MMD.
Week's Primary Market
New issues were scarce this week, with offerings few and far between. Some deals were placed on the day-to-day calendar in the wake of post-election market price volatility.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, Va.'s $324.03 million of Series 2016 first tier general resolution revenue bonds.
The deal is rated Baa2 by Moody's Investors Service and BBB by S&P Global Ratings except for the 2041 and 2055 maturities, totaling $113.14 million, which are insured by Assured Guaranty Municipal and rated A2 by Moody's and AA by S&P.
Morgan Stanley priced the Virginia Port Authority's $144.05 million of Series 2016A taxable port facilities revenue refunding bonds.
The deal is rated A1 by Moody's and A-minus by S&P.
Additionally, BAML priced the Virginia Port's $98.87 million of Series 2016B tax-exempt port facilities revenue refunding bonds, subject to the alternative minimum tax.
The deal is rated A1 by Moody's and A-minus by S&P.
Citigroup priced the Bristol, Tenn., Industrial Development Board's $122 million of Series 2016A state sales tax revenue bonds and Series 2016B sales tax revenue capital appreciation bonds for the Pinnacle Project. The deal is unrated.
In the competitive arena, Pasadena, Calif., sold $122.07 million of Series 2016A electric revenue refunding bonds.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch won the deal with a true interest cost of 3.18%. The deal is rated AA-minus by S&P Global Ratings and AA by Fitch Ratings.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $5.24 billion to $14.64 billion on Thursday. The total is comprised of $3.68 billion of competitive sales and $10.96 billion of negotiated deals.
Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund Outflows
Tax-exempt money market funds experienced inflows of $1.14 million, bringing total net assets to $129.29 billion in the week ended Nov. 7, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. This followed an outflow of $60.2 billion to $128.15 billion in the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 238 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds dropped to 0.16% from 0.20% in the previous week.
The total net assets of the 868 weekly reporting taxable money funds increased $13.13 billion to $2.517 trillion in the week ended Nov. 8, after an inflow of $17.42 billion to $2.504 trillion the week before.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds held steady at 0.14% from the prior week.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,106 weekly reporting money funds rose $14.27 billion to $2.647 trillion in the week ended Nov. 8 after inflows of $17.36 billion to $2.632 trillion in the prior week.
