Prices of top-shelf municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, according to traders, as yields were down by as much as two basis points.
In the primary, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York sold more than $1 billion of bonds in the competitive sector.
Secondary Market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation on Thursday was down as much as one basis point from 2.38% on Wednesday, while the yield on the 30-year GO was down by as much as two basis points from 3.36%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
Treasury prices were mixed on Thursday with the yield on the two-year Treasury note unchanged at 0.73% from Wednesday, while the 10-year yield decreased to 2.42% from 2.47% and the 30-year yield fell to 3.15% from 3.20%.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated on Wednesday at 96.2% versus 97.6% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 104.9% compared to 105.7%, according to MMD.
Primary Market
DASNY sold its bonds in five parts.
Morgan Stanley won the $415.87 million of Series 2015B tax-exempt Group C state personal income tax revenue bonds with a true interest cost of 4.29%. The PITs were priced as 5s to yield from 3.48% in 2036 to 3.71% in 2045.
RBC Capital Markets won the $393.32 million of Series 2015B tax-exempt Group B state PIT revenue bonds with a TIC of 3.74%. The bonds were priced as 5s to yield from 2.76% in 2026 to 3.46% in 2035.
JPMorgan won the $241.36 million of Series 2015B tax-exempt Group A state PIT revenue bonds with a TIC of 2.15%. The bonds were priced to as 5s to yield from 0.62% in 2017 to 2.61% in 2025.
JPMorgan won the $97.62 million of Series 2015D taxable state PIT revenue bonds with a TIC of 2.79%. No pricing information was immediately available.
Citi won the $29.92 million of Series 2015C tax-exempt state PIT revenue bonds with a TIC of 3.68%. No pricing information was immediately available.
The PITs were rated Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service and triple-A by Standard & Poor's.
"This was our first PIT sale of the fiscal year," a DASNY spokesman told The Bond Buyer. "We expect to see aggressive bids with favorable rates which will result in a positive outcome for New York State."
DASNY returned to the market a week after Citi priced a $504 million North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System bond offering for the issuer.
The DASNY spokesman said bond proceeds are expected to be used to fund various capital projects for State University of New York's educational facilities; to fund capital projects for the Office of Mental Health (OMH), the Office for Persons with Developmental Disabilities and the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services; to fund capital projects for the OMH voluntary agency facilities; to reimburse the state or fund various environmental projects which may be administered by the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Agriculture and Markets, the Department of State and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; to fund the Expanding our Children's Education and Learning capital program; and to fund Economic Development Grants.
Tax-Exempt Money Market Funds Post Inflows
Tax-exempt money market funds experienced inflows of $1.99 billion, bringing total net assets to $246.08 billion in the period ended June 8, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. This followed an outflow of $1.09 billion to $244.09 billion in the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 395 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds remained at 0.01% for a 110th straight week.
The total net assets of the 992 weekly reporting taxable money funds fell $16.11 billion to $2.385 trillion in the period ended June 9, after experiencing an inflow of $6.28 billion to $2.401 trillion in the prior week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds remained at 0.02% for the 21st consecutive week.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,387 weekly reporting money funds decreased $14.12 billion to $2.631 trillion in the period ended June 9, which followed an inflow of $5.19 billion to $2.645 trillion the week before.
MSRB Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 46,461 trades on Wednesday on volume of $13.876 billion. The most active bond, based on the number of trades, was the Franklin County, Ohio, Series 2015 Ohio Health Corp.'s hospital facilities revenue bonds 4 1/8s of 2045, which traded 201 times at an average price of 98.424 with an average yield of 4.218%. The bonds were initially priced at 96.74 to yield 4.32%.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar decreased $1.49 billion to $9.23 billion on Thursday. The total is comprised of $3.98 billion competitive sales and $5.25 billion of negotiated deals.
