The municipal bond market was waiting on Thursday for the last of the week’s bigger deals to come to market. Leading off the slate is the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority's $400 million of Series
In news from Asia, Chinese stocks staged their biggest rebound in seven years, as the Shanghai Composite Index rallied 5.8%. China’s selloff halted after regulators banned major stockholders from selling stakes, with more than half the country’s listed companies suspended from trading.
Meanwhile, attention in Europe was focused on Greece, as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is set to deliver a spending cut plan to bolster the government’s request for a new bailout loan.
Secondary Market
Treasury prices were lower on Thursday, with the yield on the two-year Treasury note rising to 0.58% from 0.55% on Wednesday, while the 10-year yield rose to 2.22% from 2.20% and the 30-year yield increased to 3.05% from 2.99%.
On Wednesday, the yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation finished flat from 2.22% on Tuesday, while the yield on the 30-year GO fell one basis point to 3.20% from 3.21%, according to the final read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale. Yields on shorter-dated maturities were steady to as much as three basis points lower.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated on Wednesday at 100.6% versus 100.5% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 107.2% compared to 106.6%, according to MMD.
Primary Market
On Thursday, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority's $400 million of Series
The bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody's and AA-minus by S&P and Fitch.
This deal is the first of two new-money borrowings to finance a record year of capital spending. The $1.6 billion of capital spending planned this year is part of the 15-year, $12 billion Move Illinois capital program launched in 2011. The authority operates 286 miles of toll highways in 12 counties in northern Illinois.
Citigroup is expected to price on Thursday the Colorado Health facilities Authority's $206 million of Series
The bonds are rated A-minus by Fitch and are expected to mature serially from 2016-2036, with term bonds in 2040 and 2045.
Tax-Exempt Money Market Funds Post Inflows
Tax-exempt money market funds experienced inflows of $5.15 billion, bringing total net assets to $247.22 billion in the period ended July 6, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 389 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds remained at 0.01% for a 114th straight week.
The total net assets of the 985 weekly reporting taxable money funds rose $8.06 billion to $2.403 trillion in the period ended July 7, after experiencing an inflow of $5.23 billion to $2.395 trillion in the prior week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds remained at 0.02% for the 25th consecutive week.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,376 weekly reporting money funds increased $13.57 billion to $2.650 trillion in the period ended July 7, which followed an inflow of $3.06 billion to $2.637 trillion the week before.
MSRB Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 41,395 trades on Wednesday on volume of $8.217 billion.
The most active bond, based on the number of trades, was the Corpus Christi, Texas, Series 2015C utility system junior lien revenue improvement 4 1/8s of 2045, which traded 160 times at an average price of 100.345 with an average yield of 4.069%. The bonds were initially priced at 97.725 to yield 4.26%.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar decreased $2.27 billion to $9.83 billion on Thursday. The total is comprised of $2.77 billion competitive sales and $7.06 billion of negotiated deals.
