Top quality municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, according to traders, and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center deal was priced for institutions.
Secondary Trading
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation was one to three basis points weaker from 1.88% on Wednesday, while the 30-year muni yield was two to four basis points weaker from 2.84%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
U.S. Treasuries were stronger on Thursday. The yield on the two-year Treasury dropped to 0.87% from 0.89% on Wednesday, while the 10-year Treasury yield declined to 1.90% from 1.94% and the 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 2.68% from 2.74%.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated on Wednesday at 97.1% compared to 97.0% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 103.9% versus 104.4%, according to MMD.
MSRB Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 40,584 trades on Wednesday on volume of $12.25 billion.
Primary Market
JPMorgan Securities priced the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tenn.’s Health and Educational Facilities issue for institutions after a one-day retail order period.
The $483.995 million of Series 2016A revenue bonds for the Vanderbilt University Medical Center were priced as 5s to yield 3.00% in 2029, 3.07% in 2030, 3.15% in 2031, 3.40% in 2035, 3.58% in 2040 and 3.66% in 2046.
On Wednesday, the $483.995 million of Series 2016A revenue bonds for the Vanderbilt University Medical Center was priced for retail as 5s to yield 3.14% in 2029 and 3.21% in 2030. No retail orders were taken in the 2031, 2035, 2040 or 2046 maturities.
The bonds are rated A3 by Moody’s Investors Service.
Hilltop Securities priced the Tohopekaliga Water Authority, Fla.’s $173.80 million of Series 2016 utility system revenue and revenue refunding bonds.
The issue was priced to yield from 0.70% with a 2% coupon in 2017 to 3.19% with a 4% coupon in 2036; a 2041 maturity was priced as 4s to yield 3.38% and a 2046 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 3.08%.
The issue is rated AA-plus by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.
Wells Fargo Securities priced the Santa Clara Valley Water District, Calif.’s $150.42 million of Series 2016A water system refunding revenue bonds and Series 2016C revenue certificates of participation for water utility system improvement projects.
The $107.21 million of Series 2016A bonds were priced as 5s to yield from 2.33% in 2029 to 2.72% in 2036 and to yield 2.86% in 2041 and 2.92% in 2046. The $43.21 million of Series 2016C COPs were priced to yield from 0.73% with a 4% coupon in 2018 to 2.33% with a 5% coupon in 2029.
The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA by Fitch Ratings.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar rose $3.14 billion to $8.00 billion on Thursday. The total is comprised of $1.65 billion of competitive sales and $6.35 billion of negotiated deals.
Tax-Exempt Money Market Funds Post Outflows
Tax-exempt money market funds experienced outflows of $3.09 billion, bringing total net assets to $236.72 billion in the week ended March 14, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. This followed an inflow of $831.8 million to $239.81 billion in the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 354 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds remained at 0.01% for the 150th straight week.
The total net assets of the 940 weekly reporting taxable money funds decreased $43.55 billion to $2.547 trillion in the week ended March 15, after an inflow of $24.99 billion to $2.590 trillion in the prior week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds rose to 0.11% from 0.10% where it was for the past five weeks.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,294 weekly reporting money funds decreased $46.64 billion to $2.783 trillion in the period ended March 15, which followed an inflow of $25.82 billion to $2.830 trillion.
