Secondary bond market

Non-farm payrolls rose 916,000 in March, according to a Labor Department report Friday, while the unemployment rate fell to 6%.

Susan Courtney, head of the Municipal Bond Team at PGIM Fixed Income, talks inflation, muni credit in COVID times and infrastructure. (27 Minutes) Lynne Funk hosts.

Municipal bond industry leaders weighed in on their expectations for 2021 during a panel discussion at The Bond Buyer's National Outlook Conference.

Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, combined with the shortened week and the arrival of the second quarter, took attention away from the muni market.

Larger fund flows, lower supply and optimism surrounding issuer credit post-stimulus allowed for a March price reversal that avoids posting two consecutive months with losses. The consumer confidence index jumped to its highest reading in a year in March.

Municipals continue to outperform Treasuries amid a light holiday-shortened week led by a California tobacco deal.

A trio of municipal bond analysts say now is the time for investors to take advantage of the strength and resilience of the asset class.

Moody’s followed S&P in lifting Illinois’ outlook to stable, where it stood before the COVID-19 pandemic, but a lot more needs to happen for an upgrade.

Both personal income and expenditures dropped in February, while personal consumption expenditures also came in weaker than expected, meaning inflation remains in check for now.

Refinitiv Lipper reported more inflows into municipal bond mutual funds to the tune of $592.4 million. Initial jobless claims fell to the lowest point since the pandemic began, moving Treasuries weaker while equities saw gains.

ICI reported another week of inflows at $2.23 billion. U.S. Treasuries strengthened further as COVID-19 concerns linger with shutdowns in Germany and spreads elsewhere. Equities were mixed.

The primary led the secondary to lower yields as UST 10-year fell to lows last seen a week ago. Regional service sector surveys released Tuesday showed improvement, which feeds into the belief that inflation will rise in the near term.

Monday’s economic data suggested weakness, with existing home sales declining for the first time in four months and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s National Activity Index slipping into negative territory, but economists are not concerned.

Exactly one year after record billions were pulled from municipal bond mutual funds and the market was in free fall, municipals followed U.S. Treasuries this week as the markets continued to dismiss the Fed's outlook on inflation and rates.

The rise of machine learning. Continued growth of electronic trading. Intensifying automation. Stephanie Sparvero, Global Head of BVAL Evaluated Pricing at Bloomberg, talks about these issues and more in how the muni market is charting a changing muni landscape. Lynne Funk hosts. (30 minutes)

A repricing of Illinois GOs saw the bonds bumped by 12 to 20 basis points from Tuesday's preliminary pricing wires and 17 to 25 basis points from Monday's price talk.

A reversal of fund flows and the arrival of the economic aid for states and local governments helped boost the market's morale ahead of $10 billion in new-issues supply this week.

The junk-rated school district won an upgrade and saw its secondary bond market spreads narrow as it expects to pocket about $1.8 billion in new aid.

Inflows return, stimulus set, new deals on fire — the municipal market reaped all the benefits. Initial jobless claims dropped more than expected in the week, as reopening continued slowly, but the total remains higher than any week before the COVID crisis hit.

The Investment Company Institute reported outflows from municipal bond mutual funds but inflows into exchange-traded funds. The February consumer price index came in as expected, while the core was below expectations, and analysts expect bigger rises ahead.