Top-quality municipal bonds were stronger in early action on Thursday, according to traders, with yields on some maturities weakening by as much as four basis points on the long end.
The primary was set for another quiet day after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points.
Secondary Market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation was one to three basis points weaker from 1.98% on Wednesday, while the 30-year yield was two to four basis points weaker from 2.89%, according to an early read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
U.S. Treasury bonds were narrowly mixed on Thursday as the yield on the two-year yield was flat from 1.00% on Wednesday, while the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.27% from 2.25% and the 30-year Treasury yield increased to 2.97% from 2.96%.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated on Wednesday at 86.5% compared to 87.5% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 96.2% compared to 96.8%, according to MMD.
Primary Market
Barclays Capital is slated to price the Utah Housing Corp.'s $100 million of Series 2015D single-family mortgage bonds. The deal is rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service.
Since 2005, the UHC has issued $2.69 billion of debt. The years of 2005 and 2009 saw the most issuance with $363 million and $407 million, respectively. The years of 2011 and 2012 were low years, when the UHC issued $35 million and $61 million, respectively. The UHC has been to market an average of 15.3 times per year since 2005.
Tax-Exempt Money Market Funds Post Inflows
Tax-exempt money market funds experienced inflows of $1.27 billion, bringing total net assets to $250.79 billion in the period ended Dec. 14, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. This followed an inflow of $3.22 million to $249.52 billion in the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 362 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds remained at 0.01% for the 137th straight week.
The total net assets of the 945 weekly reporting taxable money funds fell $17.84 billion to $2.501 trillion in the period ended Dec. 15, after an inflow of $15.57 billion to $2.519 trillion the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds increased to 0.03%, ending a run of 47 consecutive weeks at 0.02%.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,307 weekly reporting money funds decreased $16.57 billion to $2.752 trillion in the period ended Dec. 15, which followed an inflow of $18.79 billion to $2.769 trillion the week before.
MSRB Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 33,532 trades on Wednesday on volume of $6.89 billion.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar fell $342.9 million to $2.99 billion on Thursday. The total is comprised of $893.8 million competitive sales and $2.10 billion of negotiated deals.
