Top quality municipal bonds were stronger at midday as two big transportation deals hit the market.
Primary market
Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced the North Texas Tollway Authority’s $2.55 billion of system revenue and refunding bonds for institutions on Thursday after holding a one-day retail order period.
The $1.77 billion of Series 2017A first tier bonds were priced for institutions to yield from 1.05% with a 4% and two 5% coupons in a triple-split 2019 maturity to 3.14% with a 5% coupon in 2039. A triple-split 2043 maturity was priced as 4s to yield 3.52% and as 5s to yield 3.22%; and a 2048 maturity was priced as 4s to yield 3.26%.
The $770.45 million of Series 2017B second tier bonds were priced for institutions to yield from 1.11% with a 4% coupon in 2019 to 3.24% with a 5% coupon in 2039. A 2043 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 3.32% and a 2048 maturity was priced as 5s to yield 3.36%.
The Series 2017A bonds are rated A1 by Moody’s Investors Service and A by S&P Global Ratings; the Series 2017B bonds are rated A2 by Moody’s and A-minus by S&P except for the 2034-2038 maturities and half of a split 2033 maturity which are insured by Assured Guaranty Municipal and rated A2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.
Since 2008, NTTA has sold about $16.38 billion of securities, with the most issuance occurring in 2008 when it sold $5.18 billion. The authority did not come to market in 2013. Thursday’s sale will give NTTA its second highest yearly issuance in the past 10 years.
In the competitive arena, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority sold $566.82 million of green bonds in two separate offerings.
Wells Fargo Securities won the $479.71 million of Series 2017A Proposition A first tier senior sales tax revenue green bonds with a true interest cost of 3.24%. Pricing information was not immediately available.
Goldman Sachs won the $87.11 million of Series 2017B Proposition A first tier senior sales tax revenue refunding green bonds with a TIC of 1.26%.
Both deals are rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AAA by S&P.
Bond Buyer reports 30-day visible supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar decreased $2.27 billion to $9.95 billion on Thursday. The total is comprised of $5.96 billion of competitive sales and $3.99 billion of negotiated deals.
Secondary market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation fell as much as two basis points from 2.00% on Wednesday, while the 30-year GO yield dropped as much as two basis points from 2.81%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
U.S. Treasuries were little changed on Thursday. The yield on the two-year Treasury was flat from 1.52% on Wednesday, the 10-year Treasury yield was steady from 2.34% and yield on the 30-year Treasury bond increased to 2.88% from 2.87%.
On Wednesday, the 10-year muni-to-Treasury ratio was calculated at 85.4% compared with 85.9% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni-to-Treasury ratio stood at 97.8% versus 98.0%, according to MMD.
AP-MBIS 10-year muni dips to 2.31%
The Associated Press-MBIS 10-year municipal benchmark 5% general obligation was at 2.31% at mid-session, down from the final reading of 2.32% on Wednesday, according to Municipal Bond Information Services, a national consortium of municipal interdealer brokers.
The AP-MBIS index is a yield curve built on market data aggregated from MBIS member firms and will be updated hourly on the forthcoming Bond Buyer Data Workstation.
MSRB: Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 39,331 trades on Wednesday on volume of $10.68 billion.
Tax-exempt money market funds see inflows
Tax-exempt money market funds experienced inflows of $741.4 million, raising total net assets to $128.61 billion in the week ended Oct. 9, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.
This followed an outflow of $40.3 million to $127.86 billion in the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 218 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds inched up to 0.45% from 0.44% the previous week.
The total net assets of the 829 weekly reporting taxable money funds decreased $11.30 billion to $2.573 trillion in the week ended Oct. 10, after an outflow of $2.49 billion to $2.585 trillion the week before.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds was higher to 0.69% from 0.68% from the prior week.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,047 weekly reporting money funds decreased $10.55 billion to $2.702 trillion in the week ended Oct. 10, after outflows of $2.53 million to $2.712 trillion in the prior week.
