Munis were little changed Wednesday as U.S. Treasuries saw further gains and equities ended up.
The muni market is hanging in pretty well, but some deals have been "trickier" than others, said Jock Wright, an underwriter at Raymond James.
The so-called "Aquarion effect" from Tuesday's massive $2.4 billion deal reset some spreads, he said.
The focus on Wednesday was on the primary market, particularly the six-part $2.4 billion deal from the New York State Thruway Authority, which came a little wider than where the issuer had been trading in the secondary market, Wright said.
There is concern in the muni market about relative richness, he said.
"Maybe we're hitting a point where spreads do need to get a little bit wider," Wright said.
New-issue market
In the primary market Wednesday, BofA Securities priced for the Texas Municipal Gas Acquisition and Supply Corp. VI (A1///) $910.605 million of gas supply revenue bonds, Series 2026A, with 5s of 3/2028 at 3.54%, 5s of 2031 at 3.93%, 5s of 2036 at 4.44% and 5.25s of 2037 at 4.55%, callable 12/2036.
Jefferies priced for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (A1/AA-//) $720 million of turnpike revenue bonds. The first tranche, $570 million of Series 2026 A-1 bonds, saw 5s of 1/2042 at 3.69%, 5s of 2046 at 4.03% and 5s of 2052 at 4.36%, callable 7/2036.
The second tranche, $150 million of Series 2026 A-2 bonds, saw 5s of 1/2054 with a tender date of 7/2036 priced at 3.52%, callable 1/2036.
J.P. Morgan priced for the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government (/A/A+/) $505.725 million of health system revenue bonds (Norton Healthcare, Inc.), Series 2026A, with 5s of 10/2027 at 2.74%, 5s of 2031 at 3.22%, 5s of 2036 at 3.67% and 5s of 2039 at 3.89%, callable 10/2036.
In the competitive market, the New York State Thruway Authority (Aa1/AA+//) sold $450.76 million of state personal income tax revenue bonds, Series 2026A, Bidding Group 4, to Jefferies, with 5s of 9/2047 at 4.28% and 5s of 2050 at 4.40%, callable 9/2036.
The authority sold $450.32 million of state personal income tax revenue bonds, Series 2026A, Bidding Group 3, to BofA Securities, with 5s of 9/2042 at 3.84% and 5s of 2046 at 4.19%, callable 9/2036.
The authority sold $425.575 million of state personal income tax revenue bonds, Series 2026A, Bidding Group 1, to Morgan Stanley, with 5s of 9/2027 at 2.42%, 5s of 2031 at 2.78% and 5s of 2035 at 3.21%, noncall.
The authority sold $410.91 million of state personal income tax revenue bonds, Series 2026A, Bidding Group 2, to RBC Capital Markets, with 5s of 9/2036 at 3.34% and 5s of 2041 at 3.74%, callable 9/2036.
The authority sold $402.445 million of state personal income tax revenue bonds, Series 2026A, Bidding Group 5, to Morgan Stanley, with 5s of 9/2051 at 4.46% and 5s of 2053 at 4.60%, callable 9/2036.
The authority sold $303.87 million of state personal income tax revenue bonds, Series 2026A, Bidding Group 6, to Wells Fargo Bank, with 5s of 9/2054 at 4.61% and 5s of 2055 at 4.64%, callable 9/2036.
ICI data
The Investment Company Institute Wednesday reported inflows of $1.375 billion for the week ended July 8, following $726 million of inflows the previous week.
Exchange-traded funds saw inflows of $1.604 billion after $1.809 billion of inflows the week prior, per ICI data.
CUSIP requests rise
In June, the aggregate total of identifier requests for new municipal securities — including municipal bonds, long-term and short-term notes, and commercial paper — rose 20% versus May totals.
On a year-over-year basis, overall municipal volumes were down 2.4% through the end of June.
New York led state-level municipal request volume with a total of 259 new CUSIP requests in June, followed by Texas (169) and California (132).
For the specific category of municipal bonds, there was an increase of 9.2% month-over-month, but requests are still down 5.7% year-over-year.
