Munis little changed, USTs cheapen slightly

Munis were little changed Friday as U.S. Treasuries saw small losses and equities ended up.

There has been some "capitulation" in munis lately. The asset class was outperforming USTs until very recently, said Chris Brigati, managing director and CIO at SWBC.

Munis were little changed Friday after a two-day period when munis were on a somewhat weaker track, and some of that speaks to the huge volumes in the new-issue market, he said.

Demand has been pretty solid and there was large bid-wanted activity on Wednesday, suggesting some buyers are looking for a reason to cut back on net buying, Brigati said.

"Whether they're replacing some of that stuff or not is what drives it thus far. Usually it takes a little bit of time to feel the effects of that selling activity versus potential buying to replace or whether restructuring portfolios," he noted.

New-issue market
Supply has been robust in June, but issuance falls to an estimated $8.137 billion next week.

There are $5.396 billion of negotiated deals on tap and $2.741 billion of competitives, according to LSEG.

Miami-Dade County, Florida, leads the negotiated calendar with $637.865 million of aviation revenue refunding bonds, followed by the New York State Housing Finance Agency with $509.62 million of affordable housing revenue bonds.

The competitive calendar is led by Washington with $1.524 billion of general obligation bonds in four series.