The municipal market was mostly unchanged Friday amid fairly light trading activity in the secondary.
“There are some bits and pieces trading, but it’s somewhat quiet, and there’s not a lot of movement,” a trader in New York said. “I’d call it pretty unchanged, but there’s still a somewhat positive tone out there.”
“We’re pretty quiet and pretty flat,” a trader in Los Angeles said. “It’s really pretty unchanged. There isn’t really much going on. Just a pretty quiet day.”
The Treasury market showed losses Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note opened at 3.39% and was quoted near the end of the session at 3.48%. The yield on the two-year note opened at 0.71% and was quoted near the end of the session at 0.85%. The yield on the 30-year bond was quoted near the end of the session at 4.41% after opening at 4.33%.
Friday’s Municipal Market Data triple-A scale yielded 2.73% in 10 years and 3.65% in 20 years, following Thursday’s levels of 2.72% and 3.65%. The scale yielded 4.18% in 30 years Friday, after Thursday’s level of 4.18%.
As of Thursday’s close, the triple-A muni scale in 10 years was at 80.2% of comparable Treasuries, according to MMD, while 30-year munis were 96.5% of comparable Treasuries, and 30-year tax-exempt triple-A general obligation bonds were at 100.7% of the comparable London Interbank Offered Rate.
Trades reported by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Friday showed little movement. A dealer sold to a customer Tennessee 5s of 2025 at 3.40%, even with where they traded Thursday. A dealer sold to a customer Puerto Rico 6s of 2039 at 6.20%, even with where they were sold Thursday.
A dealer bought from a customer New York Urban Development Corp. 5.625s of 2028 at 4.41%, even with where they sold Thursday. A dealer sold to a customer taxable California Build America Bonds 7.5s of 2034 at 7.51%, even with where they traded Thursday.
A dealer sold to a customer taxable Illinois 5.1s of 2033 at 6.06%, even with where they were sold Thursday. A dealer sold to a customer insured Washington 5s of 2025 at 3.67%, even with where they traded Thursday.
In economic data released Friday, employers shed 11,000 jobs in November, the smallest monthly job decline in two years, as the unemployment rate inched down to 10.0% signaling that the worst post-World War II recession may be over.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected employers to shed 130,000 jobs and for the unemployment rate to remain 10.2%, according to the median estimate.
New factory orders for manufactured goods rose 0.6% in October, the sixth increase in seven months.
Orders excluding transportation rose 0.5% and durable goods orders decreased 0.6%. Orders for primary metals increased 4.3%, the largest increase since June.
Economists expected factory orders to be unchanged in October, according to the median estimate provided by Thomson Reuters.
Activity in the new-issue market was light Friday.
