Inflows to municipal bond mutual funds are shrinking, though they remained positive for a fifth straight week.
Muni funds that report their flows weekly recorded $109 million in inflows for the week of Feb. 6, Lipper FMI numbers showed. That compared with inflows of $574 million the week ended Jan. 30. Though positive, they were down for a fourth consecutive week, and considerably lower than those of last week.
The week was a modest one for the market all the way around. Triple-A yields hardly budged over the week from last Friday. Issuance was relatively light, as was
Ratios to Treasuries remain rich beyond the front end of the yield curve. Both the 10-year and 30-year have hovered near 90%.
Assets for all muni funds that report their flows weekly increased this past week to $326.1 billion. The week prior, they decreased to $325.2 billion.
The value of the holdings for weekly reporting funds rose by $688 million. The week before, it was negative for the first time in six weeks, falling by $1.34 billion.
The four-week moving average for all municipal bond mutual funds that report their flows weekly was $749 million of inflows, down from $1.11 billion the week before.
Long-term bond funds that report their flows weekly reported outflows for the week, at $21 million, after four consecutive weeks of inflows. That represented a decrease from $286 million of inflows they reported the week before.
High-yield muni funds reported inflows for a fifth straight week, barely. For perspective, they were positive for most of 2012.
High-yield funds that report weekly saw $22 million in inflows, Lipper said. The previous week, they reported $83 million in inflows.
Assets for high-yield funds that report their flows weekly rose for a sixth straight week to $45.20 billion, up from $45.04 billion the week before.
The value of the holdings for weekly reporting high-yield funds rose by $129 million. Last week, they fell by $184 million.
The four-week moving average for all high-yield municipal bond funds that report their flows weekly was $204 million of inflows, falling slightly from $268 million of inflows the week before.
