Munis flat ahead of $7.2B slate

Top quality municipal bonds were unchanged at mid-session, according to traders, who were set to see about $7.2 billion of new supply hit the screens this week.

Secondary market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation was steady from 1.95% on Thursday, while the 30-year GO yield was flat from 2.74%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.

Treasuries were little changed on Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury dipped to 1.34% from 1.35% on Friday, the 10-year Treasury yield was flat from 2.29% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond increased to 2.91% from 2.89%.

The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 85.3% on Friday, compared with 84.4% on Thursday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 94.7% versus 93.6%, according to MMD.

MSRB: Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 28,334 trades on Friday on volume of $7.52 billion.

Prior week's actively traded issues
Revenue bonds comprised 54.88% of new issuance in the week ended July 28, up from 54.85% in the previous week, according to Markit. General obligation bonds comprised 38.42% of total issuance, down from 38.65%, while taxable bonds made up 6.70%, up from 6.50%.

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Some of the most actively traded bonds by type were from New York and Washington issuers.

In the GO bond sector, the New York City 4s of 2018 were traded 46 times. In the revenue bond sector, the Washington state Economic Development Finance Authority 7.5s of 2032 were traded 51 times. And in the taxable bond sector, the Port of Seattle 3.755s of 2036 were traded 49 times.

Smoked: Possible FDA action on cigarettes hits some tobacco bonds
Some older vintage tobacco bond issues sold off last week on news of a possible move by the Food and Drug Administration to reduce nicotine content in cigarettes to non-addictive levels, according to a Janney market report released on Monday.

The Buckeye Ohio 5.875s due 2047 (B3/B-minus/NR) was most active muni tobacco issue on Friday ($36 million) with block trades as low as 94.375 (6.29% yield to maturity) versus a 97 low on Thursday, Janney said.

The New Jersey Tobacco 5s due 2041 (B3/B/NR) block trade prices were also down, at a 96 low (5.30% yield to maturity), according to Janney.

Previous week's top underwriters
The top negotiated and competitive municipal bond underwriters of last week included Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Stifel and Raymond James, according to Thomson Reuters data.

In the week of July 23 to July 29, BAML underwrote $1.24 billion, Morgan Stanley $528.0 million, Citi $493.4 million, Stifel $286.4 million, and Raymond James $251.1 million.

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Primary market
This week’s calendar is composed of $5.25 billion of negotiated deals and $1.91 billion of competitive sales.

Action kicks off on Monday with pricing of the Bay Area Toll Authority of Calif.’s $1.1 billion revenue bond offering for the San Francisco Bay Area Toll Bridge for retail investors ahead of the institutional pricing on Tuesday.

Bank of America will price the issue, which consists of $550 million of senior bonds made up of Series 2017- E, G, and H term-rates and $550 million of Series 2017-I index-rates and Series 2017 S-7 fixed-rated subordinate bonds.

The deal is rated Aa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.

Also on Tuesday, Wells Fargo Securities is set to price the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s $496.5 million of Series 2017B gross revenue transit bonds. The deal is rated AA-minus by S&P and Fitch.

Goldman Sachs is expected to rice Austin, Texas’ $313.54 million of water and wastewater system revenue refunding bonds on Tuesday.

The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody’s, AA by S&P and AA-minus by Fitch.

In the competitive arena on Tuesday, the Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois will sell $188.38 million of Series 2017A general obligation refunding bonds.

The deal is rated AA by S&P and Fitch.

Oakland, Calif., is competitively selling $116.09 million of bonds in two separate offerings on Tuesday consisting of $59.93 million of Series 2017A-1 Measure KK tax-exempt GOs and $56.16 million of Series 2017A-2 Measure KK taxable GOs.

The deals are rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.

Bond Buyer reports 30-day visible supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $206.2 million to $11.88 billion on Monday. The total is comprised of $5.74 billion of competitive sales and $6.14 billion of negotiated deals.

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