Munis Unchanged Amid Scant Trading

The municipal market was unchanged Friday amid fairly light secondary trading activity.

“There’s not a lot trading, it’s just pretty quiet,” a trader in New York said. “We’re just unchanged at this point, I’m not really seeing much movement in either ­direction.”

“We’re fairly quiet,” a trader in Los Angeles said. “There hasn’t been a ton going on in the secondary all week as it is, and this is just sort of the capper. There’s very little trading right now, and we’re pretty flat.”

The Treasury market mostly showed some losses Friday. The benchmark 10-year note was quoted near the end of the session with a yield of 3.69% after opening at 3.67%.

The yield on the two-year was quoted near the end of the session at 1.00% after opening at 0.95%. The yield on the 30-year bond was quoted near the end of the session at 4.58% after opening at 4.59%.

The Municipal Market Data triple-A scale yielded 2.84% in 10 years and 3.78% in 20 years Friday, matching Thursday’s levels. The scale yielded 4.15% in 30 years Friday, matching ­Thursday.

Thursday’s triple-A muni scale in 10 years was at 77.4% of comparable Treasuries and 30-year munis were at 90.4%, according to MMD, while 30-year tax-exempt triple-A general obligation bonds were at 94.3% of the comparable London Interbank Offered Rate.

Trades reported by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Friday showed little movement. Bonds from an interdealer trade of taxable Hawaii Build America Bonds 5.33s of 2026 yielded 5.22%, even with where they were sold Thursday. Bonds from an interdealer trade of ­Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority 4.75s of 2028 yielded 5.06%, even with where they traded Thursday.

Bonds from an interdealer trade of taxable Washington BABs 5.48s of 2039 yielded 5.45%, even with where they were sold Thursday. Bonds from an interdealer trade of taxable New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority BABs 6.09s of 2040 yielded 6.06%, even with where they were sold Thursday.

Bonds from an interdealer trade of taxable Ohio Building Authority 5.38s of 2024 yielded 5.41%, even with where they were sold Thursday. A dealer bought from a customer Texas 5s of 2037 at 4.30%, even with where they traded Thursday.

A dealer sold to a customer New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority 5s of 2029 at 3.40%, even with where they were sold Thursday. A dealer sold to a customer Massachusetts 5s of 2032 at 4.12%, even with where they traded Thursday.

The economic calendar was light Friday.

Activity in the new-issue market was light Friday. However, pricing information was released on Thursday’s Barclays Capital-priced sale of $327.1 million of taxable and tax-exempt debt for the Massachusetts Health and Educational ­Facilities Authority in two series, including $75.5 million of taxable BABs.

The BABs mature in 2015, 2020, 2025, and 2035, with yields ranging from 3.35% in 2015, or 2.18% after the 35% federal subsidy, to 6.43% in 2035, or 4.18% after the subsidy, all priced at par.

The bonds were priced to yield between 95 and 210 basis points over the comparable Treasury yields.

Bonds from the $251.6 million tax-exempt series mature from 2010 through 2030, with term bonds in 2035. Yields range from 0.85% in 2011 to 4.95% with a 5% coupon in 2035. Bonds maturing in 2010 were decided via sealed bid. These bonds are callable at par in 2020.

The credit is rated A2 by Moody’s ­Investors Service.

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