Secondary bond market

The broader market awaits Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, but Thursday brought some helpful labor news — unemployment claims dropped to the lowest since before the pandemic-caused economic shutdowns and layoffs plunged in June.

Gilt-edged munis fell as much as two basis points Wednesday as the month ended and the first half stats were put into the record books.

A majority of the week's largest new issues priced at yields mostly at or around benchmarks as secondary trading did little to move scales. In economic data released Tuesday, the June consumer confidence index climbed, suggesting spending will rebound.

With various Federal Reserve officials airing their views since the Federal Open Market Committee’s latest meeting, it may take a while for members to reach agreement on tapering, a boon for municipals.

Making it a summer Friday, munis were quiet. Participants contemplate why the market underperformed taxables to the degree they did when fundamentals are objectively strong and little has changed since before the FOMC.

The final new issues of the week close with some bumps in repricings while the secondary was quiet.

Triple-A benchmark yields moved higher by as much as five basis points while ICI reported another $1.8 billion of inflows and ETFs increase their share by $841 million.

A volatile U.S. Treasury market and month-end positioning are pressuring municipal yield curves.

John Hallacy, founder of John Hallacy Consulting LLC, talks with Chip Barnett about the pandemic’s lingering credit impacts on state finances in a wide-ranging discussion of the many issues affecting the municipal market today. (17 minutes)

The Federal Reserve must be prepared to move if inflation continues to surprise to the upside, according to one Fed president, while another again stated a desire for the Fed to pull back on its accommodation.

The short end of the yield curve faced pressure from a cheaper UST five-year. As the flattening trend in UST takes hold, demand for duration will also spill over into the tax-exempt space, with long-dated munis continuing to outperform, analysts say.

Refinitiv Lipper's $1.85 billion of inflows say investors aren't going anywhere.

The Investment Company Institute on Wednesday reported $2.533 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds, the highest since February.

If the market holds, the state could also receive the lowest recorded true interest cost in its history of general obligation bond sales.

Tuesday’s data may not be indicative of where the economy is going and will likely be written off by the Federal Open Market Committee at its meeting, analysts say.

Most analysts expect the Federal Open Market Committee will alter its Summary of Economic Projections and perhaps begin to talk about tapering, without offering clues when they'll begin cutting back on asset purchases.

Yields on top-quality munis were flat on the AAA scales Friday; yields were seven to nine basis points lower on the week.

Trading showed firmer prints, with Georgia general obligation bonds, Maryland GOs and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power bonds trading up.

The Investment Company Institute reported $1.089 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds, marking the 13th consecutive week.

The U.S. Treasury 10-year dipped to its lowest yield since March while municipal investors poured money into new deals and secondary trading helped push benchmarks even lower.