Nearly all The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes declined this week, as the municipal market carried a firmer tone throughout most of the week, despite little day-to-day movement.
“There’s low momentum in munis, and not a lot happening,” according to Evan Rourke, portfolio manager at Eaton Vance. “There’s a little bit of flattening at the long end of the curve. Coming into the week, there was a fair amount of overhang. Even today, it seems to me that there is more flexibility on the offered side.”
“There are some cut offerings, and reasonable bids will get hit,” Rourke said. “But they’re certainly not getting a lot of follow-through. It’s pretty quiet and slow.”
Leading the new-issue market this week, Citi priced a two-pronged deal totaling $800 million for Clark County, Nev.; Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced a $566 million deal for the Hall County and Gainesville, Ga., Hospital Authority; and Citi priced $530 million of Build America Bonds for the San Diego Water Authority.
The Bond Buyer 20-bond index of 20-year general obligation bond yields declined one basis point this week to 4.30%, which is the lowest level for the index since Dec. 30, 2009, when it was 4.25%.
The 11-bond index of higher-grade 20-year GO yields also dropped one basis point this week, to 4.02%. This is the lowest the index has been since Dec. 30, 2009, when it was 3.97%.
The revenue bond index, which measures 30-year revenue bond yields, declined two basis points this week to 4.91%. That is the lowest level for the index since Oct. 22, 2009, when it was 4.87%.
The Bond Buyer one-year note index, which is based on one-year tax-exempt note yields, rose four basis points this week to 0.47%, from last week’s all-time low of 0.43%. It is the highest the index has been since Dec. 30, 2009, when it was 0.49%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note declined 14 basis points this week to 3.60%, which is the lowest it has been since Dec. 17, 2009, when it was 3.49%.
The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dropped 13 basis points this week to 4.50%, which is the lowest it has been since Dec. 17, 2009, when it was 4.42%.
The weekly average yield to maturity on The Bond Buyer’s 40-bond municipal bond index, which is based on 40 long-term municipal bond prices, declined four basis points this week to 5.33%.
