Jessica Lerner

Estrada Hinojosa & Co., Stifel Nicolaus & Co. and CSG Advisors Incorporated moved into the top 10.

Munis are improving, but positive second-half municipal returns likely won’t be enough to offset the major losses of the first half of the year.

Investors will be greeted Monday with a new-issue calendar estimated at $7 billion. While issuance will likely come in above average this month, negative net issuance is still expected.

Investors added $206.127 million to municipal bond mutual funds, according to Refinitiv Lipper data.

Primary market takes focus for large revenue deals from the New York State Thruway Authority and the Colorado Health Facilities Authority.

Munis have been steady to firmer in spots over the past few trading sessions as fundamentals have taken over. Triple-A 30-year munis dipped below 3% Tuesday, the first time since early June.

The $11-billion-plus calendar is the largest in eight weeks and includes two large high-grade issuers which may entice buyers into the market.

The ISS ESG Muni QualityScore was previously designed for the buy- and sell-side, but it has expanded its offerings to issuers with datasets focused on their specific locations.

Investors will see almost $11.5 billion of volume head their way in the largest new-issue week of the year. More participants expect municipals to improve in the second half of 2022.

Despite rising U.S. Treasuries, municipals are making gains and are in the black to start July.

The Investment Company Institute reported investors pulled $1.372 billion from muni bond mutual funds in the week ending June 29.

As investors shift the focus from inflation to recession concerns, fixed income markets, including munis, may regain some of the year's losses.

With the Fourth of July holiday shortening the week, investors will see a paltry $2.861 billion of new issues to kick off the second half of 2022.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $1.3 billion of outflows, down from the $1.6 billion the week prior and bringing the total to $47 billion year-to-date.

For the first half of 2022, total issuance sits at $201.556 billion, down 14.5% from $235.836 billion in 2021. Taxables are down 46.8% to $31.024 billion from $58.338 billion.

The Investment Company Institute reported investors pulled $4.590 billion from muni bond mutual funds in the week ending June 22, down from $6.243 billion of outflows in the previous week.

A new-issue supply-focused buy-side had their sights on the $8 billion-plus flowing into the primary market this week, while municipal traders remained cautious, keeping an eye on bid-wanted lists in the secondary market.

A bearish market sentiment and elevated muni to UST ratios often represent a buy signal. Taxable equivalent yields are compelling for buy-and-hold investors, analysts say.

Municipals head into the final week of the first half of 2022 on more stable footing, but a cautious tone hangs over the market.