Jessica Lerner

Household and U.S. bank ownership of individual bonds fell and the total face amount of munis outstanding was down 0.6% quarter-over-quarter and down 1.4% year-over-year, Fed data shows.

For the week ending Wednesday, outflows lessened as Refinitiv Lipper reported $91.713 million was pulled from municipal bond mutual funds after $194.097 million of outflows the week prior.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.

Outflows continued with the Investment Company Institute reporting investors pulled $128 million from mutual funds in the week ending March 29, after $693 million of outflows the previous week.

Outside of economic data, "a light forward calendar is driving strong demand in the secondary market and with new issues, with some deals being significantly oversubscribed," SWBC's Roberto Roffo said.

For four consecutive weeks, triple-A yields have fallen, and munis returned over 2.2% for the month, "a great reversal from February where munis returned a loss of 2.26%," said AmeriVet Securities' Jason Wong.

Total volume for the month was $31.795 billion in 515 issues, down from $45.555 billion in 985 issues a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data.

Outflows continued as Refinitiv Lipper reported $194.097 million was pulled from municipal bond mutual funds in the week that ended Wednesday after $427.082 million of outflows the week prior.

Outflows continued, with the Investment Company Institute reporting investors pulled $693 million from mutual funds in the week ending March 22, after $684 million of outflows the previous week.

Munis are directionally trading with USTs but underperforming in days where USTs rally and outperforming in days where USTs sell-off, said Greg Gizzi, head of U.S. fixed income and head of municipal bonds at Macquarie Asset Management.

Munis held "their firmer tone as Treasuries continued to rally once more this past week," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

Outflows continued as Refinitiv Lipper reported $427.082 million was pulled from municipal bond mutual funds in the week that ended Wednesday after $461.123 million of outflows the week prior.

"In short, it appears that the end of the current tightening cycle is coming into view," said Wells Fargo Securities Chief Economist Jay Bryson.

After a tumultuous week, expect another ahead, said Matt Fabian, a partner at Municipal Market Analytics.

The banking sector crisis caused a flight-to-quality bid in USTs last week.

Investors will be greeted Monday with a new-issue calendar estimated at $4.064 billion.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank clouds the economic landscape and complicates monetary policy decisions but it's a long way off from the troubles banks and broker-dealers faced in the 2008 financial crisis.

Outflows continued as Refinitiv Lipper reported $461.123 million was pulled from municipal bond mutual funds in the week that ended Wednesday after $307.815 million of outflows the week prior.

"The main question for investors recently has been: will we see bank selling of municipals that exerts pressure on the market, and what kind of market effects could occur," Barclays strategists said.

"The muni market is no different than others, where fear and greed drive the trends," said Peter Delahunt, StoneX's managing director.