Issuers tapping the market in uncertain times, but with certainty of low rates.
With each passing day, fears surrounding COVID-19 elevate as the equity sell-off pressed on. The biggest winners have and will continue to be muni issuers, as they are selling into a record low rate market.
Taxable bonds and COVID-19 are two of the main catalysts that helped February municipal bond volume ascend to its highest level since at least 1986.
“Stocks and bonds say we’re doomed,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist for MUFG Union Bank.
Municipal market technicals were already driving performance and so the strong quality bid has deepened the rally across the curve as the asset class really didn’t need to grab the U.S. Treasuries coattails all that tightly.
Chris Mier, CFA of Loop Capital, says fiscal policy needs to achieve more at present and believes we are at a comfortable point in the credit cycle. Despite that conviction, he says the coronavirus will serve to slow growth. John Hallacy hosts.
Municipal bond yields were unchanged at record low levels, according to late reads.
The haven has been favored as the coronavirus outbreak has spread beyond China, threatening a pandemic and slower growth.
As COVID-19 fears run rampant, investors continued to sell off equities, resulting in muni yields again following Treasury yields down to all-time lows.
We can all play a part in preparing for this and future outbreaks.