Yields Rise This Week Amid Hefty Primary

Nearly all The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes rose this week, as the municipal market dealt with a sizeable slate of primary market issuance, and bond prices cheapened slightly throughout the week.

Michael Pietronico, chief executive officer at Miller Tabak Asset Management, said that factors weighing on the muni market this week include “the recognition that the forward calendar is picking up notably, and also recognition that the market has rallied considerably from the lows late last year, and that absolute yields may have to reverse course to get retail back in a bigger way.”

“The supply seems to not be so directional in terms of where interest rates overall are heading. It seems to have much more of a bigger impact on credit spreads,” Pietronico said. “In particular, when A-rated deals are priced in the market, they’re coming at much wider spreads than what’s available in the secondary, and that certainly puts the liquidity currently in the market into question.”

The Bond Buyer 20-bond index of GO yields rose seven basis points this week to 5.03%, the highest level since Jan. 29, when it was 5.16%.

The 11-bond index of higher-grade 20-year GO yields rose six basis points to 4.80%, which is the highest the index has been since Jan. 29, when it was 4.94%.

The revenue bond index, which measures 30-year revenue bond yields, rose three basis points this week to 5.83%, which is the highest level for the index since Jan. 29, when it was 5.89%.

The 10-year Treasury note yield rose six basis points to 2.88%, below its 2.99% level from two weeks ago.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield rose 12 basis points to 3.63%, below its 3.66% level from two weeks ago.

The Bond Buyer one-year note index, which measures one-year tax-exempt note yields, declined two basis points this week to 0.76%. That is the lowest the index has been since Jan. 14, when it reached its all-time low of 0.73%.

The weekly average yield to maturity on The Bond Buyer 40-bond municipal bond index finished at 5.55%, up two basis points from last week’s 5.53%. 

 

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