Prices of top-rated municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, traders said, with yields on some maturities down by as much as three basis points.
Meanwhile, the last of the week's new issues were priced in the primary on Thursday, topped by deals from Indiana, Atlanta and New York.
Secondary Market
The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation was off as much as one basis point from 2.22% on Wednesday, while the yield on the 30-year GO was down from one to three basis points from 3.18%, according to a read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
On the previous Thursday, the yield on the 10-year was at 2.12% and the yield on the 30-year was at 3.05%.
Treasury prices were mostly higher on Thursday as the yield on the two-year Treasury note increased to 0.64% from 0.63% on Wednesday, while the 10-year yield fell to 2.21% from 2.23% and the 30-year yield fell to 2.94% from 2.99%.
The 10-year muni to Treasury ratio was calculated on Wednesday at 99.5% versus 100.2% on Tuesday, while the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio stood at 106.6% compared to 107.7%, according to MMD.
Primary Market
In the negotiated sector, Goldman Sachs priced the Indiana Finance Authority's $297 million of Series 2015A stadium project lease appropriation refunding bonds.
The issue was priced to yield from 1.16% with a 5% coupon in 2018 to 3.65% with a 5.25% coupon in 2035; a 2037 term bond was priced as 5 1/4s to yield 3.71% and a 2016 maturity was offered as a sealed bid.
The issue is rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA-plus by S&P and Fitch.
Since 2005, the Indiana Finance Authority has sold about $16.3 billion of bonds. The largest issuance was $2.58 billion in both 2008 and 2011. The lowest issuances occurred in 2006 and 2014 when $675 million and $785 million were sold, respectively.
Also in the stadium financing sector, Citi priced the Atlanta Development Authority's $219.66 million of senior lien and second lien tax-exempt and taxable bonds for the new downtown Atlanta stadium project.
The $203.26 million of tax-exempts consisted of $170.94 million of Series 2015A-1 senior lien revenue bonds which were priced as 5s to yield from 2.14% in 2021 to 3.75% in 2035; a 2040 term bond was priced as 5 1/4s to yield 3.83% and a 2044 term was priced as 5 1/4s to yield 3.87%. The $32.33 million of Series 2015B second lien revenue bonds were priced to yield from 1.01% with a 4% coupon in 2017 to 3.81% with a 3.50% coupon in 2030; a 2035 term was priced as 4s to yield 4.16%, a 2040 term was priced as 4s to yield 4.30% and a 2044 term was priced as 5s to yield 4.07%.
The $16.4 million of taxable Series 2015A-2 senior lien revenue bonds were priced to yield from 90 basis points over the comparable 2018 Treasury to 100 basis points over the comparable 2021 Treasury; a 2017 maturity was offered as a sealed bid.
The senior lien tax-exempts and taxable bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody's and A-plus by S&P while the second lien bonds are rated A1 by Moody's and A by S&P.
Meanwhile, Loop Capital Markets priced for institutions the New York Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority's $225 million of Series 2015A general revenue bonds for MTA bridges and tunnels. Academy Securities is co-senior manager on the deal. A retail order period was held on Wednesday.
For institutions, the bonds were priced to yield from 0.90% with a 3% coupon in 2017 to 3.45% with a 5% coupon in 2035; a 2040 term was priced as 5s to yield 3.58%; a 2045 term was priced as 5 1/4s to yield 3.58%; and a 2050 term was priced as 5s to yield 3.77%. The 2015 and 2016 maturities were offered as sealed bids.
On Wednesday, the bonds were priced for retail to yield from 0.93% with a 3% coupon in 2017 to 3.42% with a 5% coupon in 2035; a 2040 term was priced as 5s to yield 3.55%; a 2045 term was priced as 5s to yield 3.60%; and a 2050 term was priced as 5s to yield 3.73%. The 2015 and 2016 maturities were offered as sealed bids.
The issue is rated Aa3 by Moody's, AA-minus by both Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings and AA by Kroll Bond Rating Agency.
Tax-Exempt Money Market Funds Post Inflow
Tax-exempt money market funds reversed course and experienced inflows of $1.16 billion, bringing total net assets to $245.84 billion in the period ended May 4, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. This followed an outflow of $5.36 billion to $244.69 billion in the previous week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the 395 weekly reporting tax-exempt funds remained at 0.01% for a 105th straight week.
The total net assets of the 990 weekly reporting taxable money funds rose $7.82 billion to $2.383 trillion in the period ended May 5, after experiencing an inflow of $905.7 million to $2.375 trillion in the prior week.
The average, seven-day simple yield for the taxable money funds remained at 0.02% for the 15th consecutive week.
Overall, the combined total net assets of the 1,385 weekly reporting money funds increased $8.97 billion to $2.629 trillion in the period ended May 5, which followed an outflow of $4.45 billion to $2.620 trillion in the prior period.
Bond Buyer Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar decreased $1.545 billion to $9.682 billion on Thursday. The total is comprised of $3.273 billion competitive sales and $6.409 billion of negotiated deals.
MSRB Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 45,452 trades on Wednesday on volume of $13.144 billion.
The most active bond, based on the number of trades, was the Michigan Finance Authority Series 2014 hospital revenue refunding bonds for MidMichigan Health Credit Group's 4s of 2039, which traded 187 times at an average price of 99.271 with an average yield of 4.022%. The bonds were initially priced at 99.38 to yield 4.04%.
