Primary bond market

Markets are "tilting to a risk-off posture as participants brace for the chance of Trump tariff-sparked turbulence in the coming hours and days," said José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.

The Alpine School District deal will finance school buildings in a part of the district that will be split off into a separate entity in July 2027.

UST yields rose across the curve in response to the employment report with the two-year rising nearly 10 basis points while municipals largely ignored the moves and ratios fell as a result.

The growth of the muni market comes as issuance surges, with the first half of the year seeing $280.64 billion of supply, up 14.3% year-over-year, according to LSEG.

The deal is the second large bond issued from the Public Energy Authority of Kentucky this year.

MFS Investment Management predicts "compelling opportunities for muni investors" in the second half of the year.

Up to $505 million of bonds could be issued.

"We are entering a period during the summer months in which demand historically outweighs very limited supply, resulting in a supportive performance environment but more limited investment opportunities," said J. Robert Lind of Lind Capital Partners.

Issuance this year has been "relentless" since the start of the year, while historically the "new-issue machine" takes a while to get rolling, said Scott Diamond, co-head of AM Municipal Fixed Income at Goldman Sachs.

This week has the July 4th holiday, with only $2.5 billion on tap in the primary bond market, though investors have tens of billions in reinvestment cash.

Issuance for the week of June 30 is estimated at $2.495 billion, with $2.039 billion of negotiated deals and $456.3 million of competitive deals on tap, according to LSEG.

Investors added $79.6 million to municipal bond mutual funds in the week ended Wednesday, following $110 million of inflows the prior week, according to LSEG Lipper data.

The first public bond issue from Everglades College, Inc., will finance projects on the institution's Keiser University flagship campus in West Palm Beach.

As the end of the first half of a so-far tumultuous 2025 approaches, several municipal bond analysts are upbeat about the rest of the year.

"The trend of heavy issuance that began last year has continued in the first half of 2025, surpassing even our rather optimistic expectations," said Barclays strategists Mikhail Foux, Grace Cen and Francisco San Emeterio.

In this panel from The Bond Buyer's recent Southeast Public Finance event, top public finance officials from Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Alabama, and Florida share how they evaluate bankers, bond counsel, and municipal advisors, and what makes a pitch fall flat.

The $247.75 million of unrated tax-exempt bonds will finance public infrastructure and projects for an initial development on state-owned land.

So far, the financial market reaction has been limited, said Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

"The market itself should want to look at this because no one wants to give the perception of impropriety," said an investor of Stefanik's allegation that Harvard withheld material information regarding its ongoing conflict with the Trump administration.

With one full week of June left and the end of the second quarter approaching, the week was "a sort of Groundhog Day for municipal yields," said Kim Olsan, senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.