Flows into municipal bond mutual funds scraped and clawed into positive territory the week of May 22.
Funds that report their flows weekly saw inflows of just $63 million, Lipper FMI numbers showed. That compared with $306 million in inflows the market reported for the week of May 15.
The municipal market
The 10-year triple-A yield rose eight basis points on the week from Friday to 1.90%, Municipal Market Data numbers show. The 30-year climbed nine basis points over the same span to 3.08%. The two-year inched up one basis point to 0.29%.
Treasury yields, by comparison, more modestly. The benchmark 10-year jumped seven basis points from last Friday to 2.02%.
The 30-year increased three basis points to 3.20% over the period. The two-year ended the week flat at 0.25%.
Muni ratios to Treasuries moved little beyond the front end of the yield curve. The 10-year and 30-year are holding roughly around 95%. The two year got cheaper over the week from Friday to 116%.
Assets for all muni funds that report their flows weekly rose for the first time in three weeks to $328.3 billion. The week prior, they reported $326.5 billion.
The value of the holdings for weekly reporting funds plunged by $294 million. The week before, they fell by $580 million.
The four-week moving average for all municipal bond mutual funds that report their flows weekly was $127,000 of inflows, compared to $41 million of outflows the week before.
There were relatively heavy outflows long-term bond funds that report their flows weekly. They continued for a 12th straight week, at $139 million. They reported $3.6 million of outflows last week.
High-yield muni funds, after a brief window of inflows, recorded relatively strong outflows.
High-yield funds that report flows weekly saw $123 million in outflows, Lipper said. The previous week, they reported $54 million in inflows.
Assets for high-yield funds that report their flows weekly climbed to $46.14 billion, up from $45.92 billion reported the week before.
The value of the holdings for weekly reporting high-yield funds rose by $4.0 million. Last week, they decreased by $28 million.
The four-week moving average for all high-yield municipal bond funds that report their flows weekly showed $53 million of outflows, falling from $44 million of outflows the week before.