Municipals little changed in light secondary action; Louisiana tops light new issue calendar

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Feb. 10 - Municipal yields closed out Monday mostly flat with little trading activity to speak of, said traders in the afternoon.

"There's little moving us either way," a trader said.

Although secondary was relatively light with about $3 billion in transactions conducted during the day, there was some significant movement for at least one issuer. One trader said Illinois general obligation bonds were trading better with long bonds seen improved by about 17 basis points in the early afternoon.

Treasuries offered little direction, moving very little ahead of Tuesday testimony from newly minted Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen.

Although the general tone was mixed, the movement was very slight. The 10-year Treasury note yield was little-budged at 2.673%, and the 30-year bond yield fell by a basis point to close at 3.656%. The five-year note yield rose by a basis point to 1.474%.

Louisiana plans G.O. deal

Looking to the week's new issue volume, there are a lot of smaller deals led by a $496.44 million G.O. offering from the State of Louisiana.

The state will sell the bonds in two tranches in a competitive offering Tuesday.

The deal includes $347,165,000 of series 2014A G.O. bonds and $149,275,000 of series 2014B taxable G.O. bonds.

The 2014A bonds are due 2017 to 2034, and the 2014B bonds are due 2015 to 2020.

Proceeds will be used to finance a variety of capital outlay projects.

Buncombe preps offering

Coming up on Thursday, Buncombe County, N.C., is set to sell $184.48 million of series 2014 limited obligation bonds on a negotiated basis.

The deal includes $155,755,000 of series 2014A bonds (Aa2/AA+/) and $28,725,000 of series 2014B taxable bonds (Aa3/AA+/).

The 2014A bonds are due 2015 to 2037, and the 2014B bonds are due 2015 to 2034.

Baird & Co. and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey are the lead managers.

Proceeds will refinance the county's obligations as part of a 2006 contract and to purchase bonds.

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