Top quality municipal bonds were steady at mid-session, according to traders, who returned to work to see a week of varied new issues lined up on the calendar.
Traders will be keeping an eye on muni yields, which while flat on Monday, have been moving steadily higher in the past few trading sessions.
Secondary Market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation was unchanged from 1.45% on Friday, while the yield on the 30-year muni was flat from 2.10%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
U.S. Treasuries were little changed on Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury dropped to 0.69% from 0.70% on Monday as the 10-year Treasury yield declined to 1.59% from 1.60% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was unchanged from 2.30%.
On Friday, the 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated at 91.1% compared to 92.1% on Thursday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 91.3% versus 91.1%, according to MMD.
MSRB: Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 29,378 trades on Friday on volume of $8.97 billion.
Prior Week's Actively Traded Issues
Revenue bonds comprised 49.87% of new issuance in the week ended July 15, up from 49.75% in the previous week, according to
Some of the most actively traded issues by type were from Oregon and New York issuers. In the GO bond sector, the Oregon 2s of 2030 were traded 23 times. In the revenue bond sector, the NYC TFA 5s of 2040 were traded 67 times. And in the taxable bond sector, the Port Morrow, Ore., 2.987s of 2036 were traded 58 times.
Previous Week's Top Underwriters
The top negotiated and competitive underwriters of last week included Wells Fargo Securities, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Piper Jaffray, Siebert Brandford Shank, and Citigroup, according to Thomson Reuters data. In the week of July 10-16, Wells Fargo underwrote $1.27 billion, BAML $1.16 billion, Piper $818 million, Siebert $800 million, and Citi $537 million.
Primary Market
Volume for the week is estimated at $6.66 billion, consisting of $5.06 billion of negotiated deals and $1.59 billion of competitive sales.
On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will competitively sell two separate sales tax and assessment refinancing deals totaling about $344 million.
The MBTA will be offering about $118.5 of Series 2016A assessment bonds and around $225.7 million of Series 2016A senior sales tax capital appreciation bonds. The assessment bonds are rated Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service and triple-A by S&P Global Ratings and the senior sales tax bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA-plus by S&P.
In the short-term competitive sector, Colorado will sell $600 million of Series 2016A general fund tax and revenue anticipation notes. The TRANs are rated MIG1 by Moody's and SP1-plus by S&P.
Also Tuesday, Wells Fargo Securities will price the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's $520 million of Series 2016C transportation revenue bonds for retail investors ahead of the institutional pricing on Wednesday. The deal is rated A1 by Moody's, AA-minus by S&P and A by Fitch.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is expected to price the Port of Seattle, Wash.'s $250 million of first and intermediate lien revenue refunding bonds in four series.
Citigroup is set to price Travis County, Texas' $121 million of limited tax refunding bonds. The deal is rated triple-A by Moody's and S&P.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $3.37 billion to $12.61 billion on Monday. The total is comprised of $4.40 billion of competitive sales and $8.21 billion of negotiated deals.
