Primary bond market
Another weak session for munis, but with smaller losses
“The market has taken to heart the [Federal Open Market Committee] actions from last week,” said Jeff Lipton, managing director of credit research at Oppenheimer Inc.
Read MoreDeals from Texas, Florida top slate; muni yields continue to rise
“People are just kind of sitting on their hands and being careful because MMD is raising yields every day and people don’t know which way this is heading,” said John Farawell of Roosevelt & Cross.
Read MoreMunis are weaker ahead of larger new-issue calendar
The Texas Water Development Board leads the new-issue calendar with $1 billion of revenue bonds.
Read MoreMunis sell off after Fed indicates rates will be higher for longer
The general bias toward muni rates is that they would be a bit higher with technicals “being a little less supportive than they were in August, plus what we heard with from the Fed ‘higher for longer,’ and potentially another hike,” said Jeff MacDonald, head of Fixed Income Strategies at Fiduciary Trust International.
Read MoreMuted reaction to FOMC, Powell as munis contemplate future hikes
As was expected, the FOMC held rates in a range between 5.25% and 5.50%, but the dot plot in the Summary of Economic Projections showed 12 of 19 members expect another 25-basis-point rate hike this year.
Read MoreMuni outflows hinder ample cash ready to be deployed
Fund flows “should be moving along a more positive trajectory, but they have yet to do so with munis unable to break free of the Treasury market’s tight grip,” Oppenheimer’s Jeff Lipton said.
Read MoreA weaker tone ahead of FOMC, lighter calendar
“We believe investors should take advantage of the current high rates environment: investors should pick and choose bonds selectively in the coming weeks in anticipation of this tightening cycle’s end after November,” BofA strategists said.
Read MoreMunis little changed amid weaker USTs; outflows again
Refinitiv Lipper reported $116.737 million was pulled from municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Wednesday after $798.474 million of outflows into the funds the previous week.
Read MoreMunis little changed while DASNY prices $889M for retail
While supply this week is “softer,” uncertainty and volatility may prevail once more due to “yields still not exciting longer-term investors,” said Matt Fabian, a partner at Municipal Market Analytics.
Read MoreMunis steady ahead of new-issue calendar
Historically, “September and, to a lesser degree, October have not been kind to municipal investors.”
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