James Ramage

NEW YORK — A slew of large new deals flooded into the municipal market Tuesday, raising yields and pushing the secondary market into the shadows.

Tax-exempt yields in the belly of the curve are running about five to 10 basis points higher Tuesday as a slew of large deals and lighter Treasury yields give the market a weaker direction.

Weighty Treasuries have dragged municipal bond yields higher to start Tuesday morning’s session.

Low nominal yields continued to pin the municipal market to the mat Monday, leaving little interest or activity in the secondary.

NEW YORK — Low nominal yields continued to pin the municipal market to the mat Monday, leaving little interest or activity in the secondary.

A groggy municipal market still appeared listless by midday.

The municipal market hit the snooze button to start the week.

Volume in the municipal market is bulking up this week. The industry expects $9.19 billion to reach the primary, compared with $6.83 billion that arrived last week. And it should meet a degree of demand largely unscathed from last week’s slight backup.

The hunger for paper and search for yield in the municipal market reached their limits this week.

Municipal bond mutual funds again posted solid inflows in a week of modest new issuance that saw a backup in yields.

Individual investors have been flocking to municipal bond funds, searching for safety and relatively high yields.

Sturdy demand for tax-exempt paper and falling Treasuries pushed municipal yields in the intermediate and long ends of the curve lower throughout much of the week.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw a huge week of inflows, as investors continue to see strength in the market.

Austin J. Tobin Jr., a veteran of more than five decades in the municipal bond industry, died on Wednesday. He was 84.

The municipal bond industry has taken its fair share of lumps over the past few years, starting in 2008 with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, moving to the downfall of the auction-rate market and then the failures of muni derivatives.

Record-low long-term municipal bond yields may generate the most press these days, but investors still see the most value in the intermediate part of the yield curve.

Volume for the municipal market continues to tick down while investor demand for tax-exempt paper remains robust.

Over most of the past three years, from the time the bond program was launched in summer 2009 to when it expired at the end of 2010 to now, BABs have developed and maintained a level of popularity with investors, according to Citi municipal analyst Mikhail Foux.

It's been another strong week for municipal bonds as yields fell and investors gobbled up new issuance. Demand in the primary propelled the market as major deals saw yields lowered around five basis points, on average. In some cases, issues were accelerated to market or upsized.

Investors continued to find favor with municipal bond mutual funds, following a week of strong demand and gradually falling yields.