The municipal market was unchanged to slightly firmer Friday.
"There isn't a whole lot going on right now, and we're probably mostly flat, but there's a better tone in the market again," a trader in New York said. "Maybe even a basis point or two firmer on the short end. But overall, not a whole lot happening, and pretty much unchanged."
The Treasury market was mixed Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which opened at 3.94%, finished at the same level. The yield on the two-year note was quoted near the end of the session at 2.50% after opening at 2.51%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury finished at 4.56% after opening at 4.57%.
In economic data released Friday, non-farm payrolls dropped 51,000 in July after a revised 51,000 jobs decline in June. Economists polled by IFR Markets had predicted a 72,000 dip in payrolls.
The unemployment rate climbed to 5.7% in July from 5.5% the previous month. Economists polled by IFR had predicted the unemployment rate would be 5.6%.
Spending on construction projects fell 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.082 trillion in June as private construction decreased 0.4%, and public construction slid 0.2%. The overall decrease, which was equal to the 0.4% decrease projected by IFR, followed a revised May level of $1.086 trillion.
The Institute for Supply Management's business activity composite index dipped to 50.0 in July from 50.2 in June. Economists polled by IFR Markets predicted the index would slip to 49.2.
In the new-issue market Friday, JPMorgan priced $800 million of general obligation bonds for New York City, in two series. This is the first day of a three-day retail order period that stretches through tomorrow. Institutional pricing will follow on Wednesday.
Bonds from the larger $800 million Series A mature from 2010 through 2029, with yields ranging from 2.25% with a 4% coupon in 2010 to 4.99% with a 4.875% coupon in 2029. Bonds maturing from 2024 through 2029 were not offered during the retail order period. Bonds from the smaller $33.5 million Series G mature from 2014 through 2026, with yields ranging from 3.57% with a 4% coupon in 2014 to 4.86% with a 4.75% coupon in 2026. All the bonds, which are callable at par in 2018, are rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service, AA by Standard & Poor's, and AA-minus by Fitch Ratings.
A slate of economic data will be released this week, beginning today with June personal income, June personal consumption, the June core personal consumption expenditures deflator, and factory orders for June. Tomorrow, the July Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing business activity composite index will be released, followed Thursday by initial jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 2 and continuing jobless claims for the week ended July 26. On Friday, June wholesale inventories and June wholesale sales will be released.
Economists polled by IFR Markets are predicting a 0.2% dip in personal income, a 0.5% rise in personal consumption, a 0.2% uptick in core PCE, a 0.7% climb in factory orders, 1.7% growth in factory orders excluding transportation, a 49.0 reading for the ISM non-manufacturing index, 430,000 initial claims, 3.225 million continuing claims, a 0.6% increase in wholesale inventories, and an 0.8% rise in wholesale sales.
