Lynne Funk

More of the same from the FOMC did little to move UST or munis. ICI reported the 17th consecutive week of inflows at $1.98 billion. July is looking good for municipal issuers.

U.S. Treasury 10- and 30-year yields hit February lows. Large blocks of high-grades in secondary trading led triple-A benchmarks to lower yields by two to four basis points across the curve.

High-yield municipal bond returns are more than 6% so far in the year as Nuveen expands its reach in the sector with a new "interval" high-yield fund.

With better-than-expected payrolls, economists still caution full recovery is a ways away. Muni participants are closely following how the Fed's action — or inaction — will affect the municipal market going forward.

The broader market awaits Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, but Thursday brought some helpful labor news — unemployment claims dropped to the lowest since before the pandemic-caused economic shutdowns and layoffs plunged in June.

While June was lower than 2020 in par, pandemic-related factors skewed last year's issuance totals, making the $42 billion issued this month high on a historical basis. Outside factors, such as federal aid and potential infrastructure plans, may affect issuance going forward.

A majority of the week's largest new issues priced at yields mostly at or around benchmarks as secondary trading did little to move scales. In economic data released Tuesday, the June consumer confidence index climbed, suggesting spending will rebound.

With various Federal Reserve officials airing their views since the Federal Open Market Committee’s latest meeting, it may take a while for members to reach agreement on tapering, a boon for municipals.

Making it a summer Friday, munis were quiet. Participants contemplate why the market underperformed taxables to the degree they did when fundamentals are objectively strong and little has changed since before the FOMC.

The final new issues of the week close with some bumps in repricings while the secondary was quiet.

Triple-A benchmark yields moved higher by as much as five basis points while ICI reported another $1.8 billion of inflows and ETFs increase their share by $841 million.

As infrastructure talks unfold in Washington, the likelihood of higher taxes may be waning, at least in the short run.

A volatile U.S. Treasury market and month-end positioning are pressuring municipal yield curves.

The Federal Reserve must be prepared to move if inflation continues to surprise to the upside, according to one Fed president, while another again stated a desire for the Fed to pull back on its accommodation.

The short end of the yield curve faced pressure from a cheaper UST five-year. As the flattening trend in UST takes hold, demand for duration will also spill over into the tax-exempt space, with long-dated munis continuing to outperform, analysts say.

Refinitiv Lipper's $1.85 billion of inflows say investors aren't going anywhere.

The Investment Company Institute on Wednesday reported $2.533 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds, the highest since February.

Tuesday’s data may not be indicative of where the economy is going and will likely be written off by the Federal Open Market Committee at its meeting, analysts say.

Most analysts expect the Federal Open Market Committee will alter its Summary of Economic Projections and perhaps begin to talk about tapering, without offering clues when they'll begin cutting back on asset purchases.

Now the fifth largest bank in the U.S., PNC will expand its banking and capital markets activities across the Southwest and Western regions.