A Connecticut general obligation deal topped Wednesday's light primary, with JP Morgan winning the two-part $500 million deal.
Traders said both parts of the deal were bid on aggressively. The $300 tax-exempt part had yields ranging from 0.13% on a 2% coupon in 2015 up to 3.59% on a 4% coupon in 2034, according to data provided by Bloomberg.
The $200 million taxable portion had yields ranging from 0.25% at par in 2015 to 3.06% on a 3.10% coupon in 2024, according to Bloomberg.
Both parts of the deal were rated AA by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings, and Aa3 by Moody's Investor Services.
The state of Wisconsin received the written award on $275 million general obligation refunding bonds Wednesday, according to Ipreo. The deal was priced to yield 1.69% on a 2% coupon in 2020, up to 2.81% on a 5% coupon in 2029.
The deal is rated AA by S&P and Fitch, and Aa2 by Moody's.
The rest of the day, the calendar was sprinkled with smaller regional deals. While ordinarily these issuances would not be on most buyers' radars, the summer's supply scarcity has forced firms to broaden their scope to these small local deals.
"If we can get our arms around the credit or we already know it, we're willing to do a smaller deal because that's just all there is," said a Virginia-based trader.
An example of one of these deals is the Kannapolis, N.C., limited general obligation bonds set to price Wednesday in the negotiated market. Though the deal will only total $24.5 million, it has picked up widespread interest thanks to relatively generous spreads and its timing.
"We heard the spreads were plus 45 in the 10-year maturities," said the Virginia based trader. "That's just talk, but at spreads like that, we had to put an order in."
The deal is led by PNC Capital Markets and rated A-plus by Standard & Poor's, according to TM3. The trader expects the deal to be many times oversubscribed.
"We're preparing for a riot [on Wednesday]," said the trader, noting the intense interest on the deal. "We'll put in orders two or three days before a deal comes to market these days. Once we get the scales, we'll get back to them within a few hours to tell them if we're interested."
Munis strengthened Wednesday, with yields on bonds in the intermediate part of the curve falling as much as three basis points and bonds maturing beyond 2021 dropped as much as four basis points. The short end of the curve was steady, according to the Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
Treasuries strengthened Wednesday, with the 30-year yield, the 10-year benchmark and the two-year note each slipping one basis point to 3.27%, 2.47% and 0.46%, respectively.
