Municipals were little changed Wednesday amid another busy new-issue calendar day that saw several sizable deals, including $1.8 billion of general obligation bonds from New York City. U.S. Treasuries were mixed and equities ended up.
The two-year muni-UST ratio Wednesday was at 61%, the five-year at 64%, the 10-year at 76% and the 30-year at 95%, according to Municipal Market Data's 3 p.m. ET read. ICE Data Services had the two-year at 60%, the five-year at 64%, the 10-year at 75% and the 30-year at 96% at a 4 p.m. read.
The Investment Company Institute Wednesday reported $1.008 billion of inflows for the week ending July 30, following $931 million of inflows the previous week.
Exchange-traded funds saw inflows of $673 million after $1.369 billion of inflows the week prior, per ICI data.
The municipal bond market is "doing pretty good for the moment," said Jeff Timlin, a managing partner at Sage Advisory.
Outside of some one-off issues with high-yield credits, munis are, "for the most part, pretty stable," he said, as they benefit from recent volatility in other asset classes.
"People should be looking at munis as a good way to do some defensive posturing, if you're looking to take some volatility off the table," Timlin said.
Several things are playing out in the muni market, he said.
For one, summer seasonality remains "entrenched," but that ending relatively soon, he said.
After several months of heavy redemptions, August "marks the beginning of the end of the summer redemption season as the pace of redemptions for the rest of the year will be much slower than what we have seen over the last three months," said Pat Luby, head of municipal strategy at CreditSights.
Muni investors will receive $43 billion of principal in August and $14 billion in interest. Issuers will return $28.8 billion of maturing and call bond principal on Aug. 1, he said.
There's still a decent amount of cash sitting on the sidelines looking to be reinvested, Timlin said.
Additionally, supply continues to be robust, in part, due to many Texas school districts coming to market with PSF-insured bonds to get ahead of Sept. 1 Texas legislation, he said.
The legislation increases the property tax evaluations that are allowed to be exempt, which would lessen the ability of the school districts to issue debt because their property tax liens will be lower.
Overall, tough, municipalities are looking to come to market, Timlin said.
"It's amazing. Where rates are, they're kind of elevated, particularly in the back end. Yet it doesn't seem to be disrupting the willingness to borrow," he said.
With "no end in sight" for supply, investors are still digesting the heightened supply well, Timlin said.
"I'm sure it will slow down at some point, but it looks like a full calendar for at least the next 30 days," he said.
In the primary market Wednesday, BofA Securities priced for New York City (Aa2/AA/AA/AA+/) $1.8 billion of GOs. The first tranche, $950 million of tax-exempt Fiscal 2026 Series A-1 bonds, saw 5s of 8/2027 at 2.42%, 5s of 2030 at 2.68%, 5s of 2035 at 3.51%, 5s of 2040 at 4.27%, 5s of 2045 at 4.75%, 5s of 2050 at 4.91%, 5.5s of 2050 at 4.76%, 5.25s of 2053 at 4.87% and 5s of 2053 at 4.95%, callable 2/1/2036.
The second tranche, $568.855 million of tax-exempt Fiscal 2026 Series B-1 bonds, saw 5s of 8/2027 at 2.42%, 5s of 2030 at 2.68%, 5s of 2034 at 3.33%, make whole call.
The third tranche, $15.02 million of tax-exempt Fiscal 2026 Series C-1 bonds, saw 5s of 8/2027 at 2.42% and 5s of 2030 at 2.68%, make whole call.
The fourth tranche, $245.15 million of taxable Fiscal 2026 Series B-2 bonds, with all bonds priced at par: 4.06s of 8/2026 and 3.93s of 2027, make whole call.
The fifth tranche, $11.105 million of taxable Fiscal 2026 Series C-2 bonds, saw 4.06s of 2/2026 price at par, make whole call.
Morgan Stanley priced for the Port of Seattle (Aa3/AA-/AA-/) $747.245 million of intermediate lien revenue bonds. The first tranche, $74.235 million Series A non-AMT bonds, saw 5s of 10/2033 at 3.04%, 5s of 2035 at 3.36%, 5s of 2040 at 4.19%, 5s of 2045 at 4.69% and 5.25s of 2050 at 4.86%, callable 10/1/2035.
The second tranche, $650 million of Series B AMT bonds, saw 5s of 10/2028 at 2.86, 5s of 2030 at 3.05%, 5s of 2035 at 3.93%, 5s of 2040 at 4.56%, 5.25s of 2045 at 4.93%, 5.5s of 2050 at 5.00% and 5s of 2050 at 5.10%, callable 10/1/2035.
The third tranche, $22.55 million of Series C taxable bonds, saw all bonds priced at par: 3.987s of 9/2028, 4.185s of 2030 and 4.488s of 2032, make whole call.
Goldman Sachs priced for Colorado Springs (Aa2/AA+//) $738.265 million of utilities system improvement revenue bond. The first tranche, $700 million of Series A bonds, with 5s of 11/2031 at 2.67%, 5s of 2035 at 3.37%, 5s of 2040 at 4.10%, 5s of 2045 at 4.58%, 5.25s of 2050 at 4.75% and 5.25s of 2055 at 4.79%, callable 11/15/2035.
The second tranche, $38.265 million of Series B refunding bonds, saw 5s of 11/2026 at 2.28%, 5s of 2030 at 2.51% and 5s of 2031 at 2.67%, noncall.
Raymond James priced for the Medina Valley Independent School District, Texas, (/AAA//) $128.615 million of PSF-insured unlimited tax school building bonds, with 5s of 2/2026 at 2.44%, 5s of 2030 at 2.65%, 5s of 2035 at 3.51%, 5s of 2040 at 4.25%, 5s of 2045 at 4.70%, 4.75s of 2050 at 4.93%, 5.25s of 2055 at 4.81% and 5.25s of 2060 at 4.86%, callable 2/15/2035.
In the competitive market, the San Diego City Public Facilities Financing Authority, California, (Aa2//AA/) sold $237.305 million of senior water revenue bonds, Series 2025A, to BofA Securities, with 5s of 8/2026 at 1.97%, 5s of 2030 at 2.11%, 5s of 2035 at 2.91%, 5s of 2040 at 3.77%, 5s of 2045 at 4.35%, 5s of 2049 at 4.53% and 5s of 2055 at 4.65%, callable 8/1/2035.
Cranston, Rhode Island, sold $100 million of 2025 GO bond anticipation notes, Series 1, to Wells Fargo, with 4s of 8/2026 at 2.55%, noncall.
AAA scales
MMD's scale was little changed: The one-year was at 2.25% (-2) and 2.27% (unch) in two years. The five-year was at 2.41% (unch), the 10-year at 3.21% (unch) and the 30-year at 4.58% (unch) at 3 p.m.
The ICE AAA yield curve saw cuts outside of five years: 2.28% (-3) in 2026 and 2.23% (-1) in 2027. The five-year was at 2.42% (unch), the 10-year was at 3.15% (+1) and the 30-year was at 4.57% (+2) at 4 p.m.
The S&P Global Market Intelligence municipal curve was little changed: The one-year was at 2.26% (-1) in 2025 and 2.28% (unch) in 2026. The five-year was at 2.41% (unch), the 10-year was at 3.21% (+1) and the 30-year yield was at 4.58% (unch) at 4 p.m.
Bloomberg BVAL was little changed: 2.24% (-2) in 2025 and 2.26% (-2) in 2026. The five-year at 2.40% (unch), the 10-year at 3.15% (unch) and the 30-year at 4.55% (unch) at 4 p.m.
Treasuries were mixed.
The two-year UST was yielding 3.704% (-2), the three-year was at 3.66% (-3), the five-year at 3.768% (-1), the 10-year at 4.223% (+1), the 20-year at 4.794% (+3) and the 30-year at 4.815% (+3) near the close.
Primary to come
The Florida Development Finance Corp. is set to price $985 million of non-rated revenue bonds (Brightline Florida Passenger Rail Expansion Project), Series 2025B. Morgan Stanley.
The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency is set to price Thursday $200 of non-AMT social multi-family revenue bonds. Barclays.
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (/A-/A+/) is set to price Thursday $124.61 million of fixed-rate revenue bonds (Roswell Park Cancer Institute Obligated Group), Series 2025A. Morgan Stanley.
