Municipal bonds were a bit stronger at mid-session, traders said, as yields on some top quality maturities weakened by as much as one basis point in quiet activity.
There were no major deals on the municipal bond market calendar for the holiday-shortened week.
Secondary Market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation weakened by as much as one basis point from 1.93% on Friday, while the 30-year yield was as much as one basis point weaker from 2.81%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
U.S. Treasury bonds were little changed on Monday. The yield on the two-year yield was unchanged from 0.96% on Friday, while the 10-year Treasury slipped to 2.19% from 2.20% and the 30-year Treasury yield was flat from 2.91%.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated on Friday at 87.8% compared to 87.4% on Thursday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 96.7% versus 96.8%, according to MMD.
Primary Market
Volume for the Christmas week is scant with only about $73 million of deals slated to come to market.
There are just two negotiated deals scheduled – and both are under $40 million. There are only a handful of competitive sales out for bid, none of which is larger than $5 million.
Boenning & Scattergood is expected to price Bucks County, Pa.'s $38 million of water and sewer revenue bonds on Tuesday. The deal is scheduled to mature serially from 2016 to 2040.
Loop Capital is scheduled to price the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency's $24 million of Series A multifamily conduit revenue bonds for the Wood Ridge Homes Project on Tuesday.
The Previous Week's Sectors
Revenue bonds comprised 55.46% of new issuance in the week ended Dec. 18, up from 55.05% in the previous week, according to Markit. General obligation bonds comprised 36.32% of total issuance, down from 36.54%, while taxable bonds made up 8.22%, down from 8.41%.
New York & New Jersey, Texas, and California were some of the most actively quoted names in the week.
On the bid side, the New York & New Jersey Port Authority taxable 4.81s of 2065 were quoted by 13 unique dealers. On the ask side, the North Texas Tollway Authority revenue 5s of 2040 were quoted by 17 unique dealers. And among two-sided quotes, the state of California taxable 7.55s of 2039 were quoted by 17 dealers, Markit said.
MSRB Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 32,007 trades on Friday on volume of $6.33 billion.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar rose $279 million to $2.74 billion on Monday. The total is comprised of $952 million competitive sales and $1.79 billion of negotiated deals.
