Munis were firmer to end a volatile month, as U.S. Treasuries richened and equities rallied.
Many investors are waiting to see if the pattern of falling yields continues, according to Chris Brigati, managing director and CIO at SWBC. If yields continue to firm up, more investors will be willing to buy, Brigati said, but the state of the market is still up in the air.
"It is so tied to what's going on overseas, with the Iranian situation, and the price of oil specifically, and it can turn on a dime," Brigati said. "So yes, this is somewhat favorable, but if you look back over what has happened with rates, really over the past month, we've seen periods where they look solid and they look like we may see a little bit of a bounce, but they really don't."
New-issue market
In the primary market Tuesday, BofA Securities priced for the National Finance Authority $394.424 million of municipal certificates. The first tranche, $341.176 million of Series 2026-1 Class A-1 bonds (/AA-//), saw 4.25s of 7/2041 at 4.93%.
The second tranche, $43.88 million of Series 2026-1 Class A-2 bonds (/BBB//), saw 4.25s of 7/2041 at 5.27%.
The third tranche, $9.368 million of Series 2026-1 Class B subordinate bonds, saw 9.465s of 7/2041 at 8.50%.
In the competitive market, the Tarrant Regional Water District, Texas (/AAA/AA+/) sold $335.245 million of water revenue refunding and improvement bonds, to BofA Securities, with 5s of 3/2027 at 2.50%, 5s of 2031 at 2.80%, 5s of 2036 at 3.26%, 5s of 2041 at 3.74%, 5s of 2046 at 4.479%, and 4.625s of 2051 at 4.728% and 4.625s of 2056 at 4.80%, callable 3/1/2035.
