Primary bond market

The secondary market took a backseat to the primary Thursday with yields holding steady while Lipper reported $833 million of inflows, the first since February 26.

Michael Rowan, CFA, managing director of global public, project and infrastructure finance at Moody’s Investors Service, talks about how COVID-19 is affecting the rating process. John Hallacy hosts.

ICI reported nearly $3 billion of outflows, which is foretelling that coronavirus-driven volatility still lingers even if the muni market has rallied by at least 60 basis points since early-April high yields.

Technical and fundamental concerns surrounding credit and supply could present challenges for the market going forward but participants tepidly welcomed signs of stability.

Due to the coronavirus, a plant in Indiana may not be able to make its bond payments.

Confidence in the municipal market among participants has been boosted by the Fed purchase program, but some expect that if equities dive amid more coronavirus fears or re-test March lows, munis could be rattled once again.

The municipal bond market is taking it slow when it comes to new issuance as buyers and sellers move cautiously in the shadows of COVID-19.

Banks, asset managers, and other financial institutions need liquidity. This has created an unprecedented buying opportunity, with yields not seen since the financial crisis and then only seen for a short period of time.

The Fed will help the muni market navigate the short-term pain caused by coronavirus via direct purchases of bonds on the short end. However, the Fed will effectively hand off the responsibility to choose winners and losers to state officials, a move the market generally greeted positively.

The market appears to be moving toward some semblance of normal conditions as the new-issue pricings and moderating bid volume create a more stable tone.

Despite a muted month of March due to the COVID-19 pandemic which included two weeks of no negotiated deals, muni bond issuers still sold more long-term debt than they did during the first three months of 2019. Issuers accounted for a total of $84.87 billion of bonds throughout 2,119 transactions, compared to $75.84 billion in 1,809 deals in first quarter of 2019. The top 10 features five newcomers from a year ago, including the top spot.

Underwriters of municipal bonds did the majority of business during the first two months of the year, before COVID-19 swept the country with sickness and severe spreading. The top underwriters accounted for $87.84 billion of bonds throughout 2,119 transactions, compared to $75.84 billion in 1,809 deals in first quarter of 2019.

Tax-exempt and taxable deals priced as dealers opened up their balance sheets to new issues while the market still awaits word from the Fed on coronavirus-led purchase programs.

Municipal market participants are confused, to say the least, about the Federal Reserve and its ability to buy long-term municipal securities. And there’s a good reason for the puzzlement.

With Fed purchases on short end, more deals are showing up on the calendar and this week may become the testing ground for reopening the primary as participants gauge volatility and rates.

The corporate bond business appears to enjoy greater liquidity than tax-exempts, said Lee Deviney, executive director of the Texas Public Finance Authority.

The coronavirus has ravaged nerves worldwide and spread its gloom into the financial sector. The U.S. municipal bond market is slipping into park from neutral as most issuers and underwriters await a better day.

There will be more queasiness ahead of any calm in municipals as adjustments to the coronavirus-induced climate continue to test the market’s resolve.

The bond-financed $420 million expansion project moved forward over the objections of board members who questioned the timing amid plummeting tax revenues.

Milwaukee's experience in market Thursday speaks to the struggles of primary market borrowers navigating COVID-19-driven turmoil.