Finance

Fresno, California, received a boost to positive from stable on its senior lien airport revenue bonds.

Investors added $1.266 billion to municipal bond mutual funds in the week ended Wednesday, following $744.3 million of inflows the prior week, according to LSEG Lipper data.

While the market navigates a surge in supply, another focus area has become elections and their potential to shift market demand, as several regional election results will likely garner greater attention over the next few months, said Kim Olsan, senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.

Tuesday saw a good slate of deals, including the acceleration of Ohio's $508.865 million of GOs and Austin's $419.035 million of electric utility system revenue refunding bonds.

Muni experts discussed how macroeconomic concerns and a volatile political environment are affecting the market as the market chalks up another record year of issuance.

In her first public appearance since President Trump moved to fire her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Fed Gov. Lisa Cook reiterated her commitment to bringing inflation under 2% and said that the labor market remains "solid."

"Normalized supply, a supportive rate environment and favorable technicals propelled the municipal market to the best October performance [in decades]," said Robert J. Lind.

Meanwhile, the Brightline West train project has floated a possible debt exchange ahead of its own mandatory redemption later this month.

Next week's issuance is slated to be "substantial" — an estimated $13.1 billion — although that is expected to be met with "solid" November reinvestment capital, J.P. Morgan strategists said.

Technicals are supposed to become slightly more favorable into year-end, said Jeremy Holtz, a portfolio manager at Income Research + Management.

The one-notch upgrade to AA-minus for Oklahoma's flagship university was assigned to an upcoming approximately $160.7 million bond refunding.

Chicago Public Schools went to market this week with nearly $1.1 billion of refunding bonds in the largest municipal transaction the district ever completed.

"The knee-jerk reaction of the markets to the Fed meeting (and press conference) was to sell stocks and bonds, because [Fed] Chairman Jerome Powell said that an additional rate cut in December wasn't a sure thing," said Northlight Asset Management Chief Investment Officer Chris Zaccarelli.

The softer-than-expected September consumer price index report, released Friday, reinforced confidence in the likelihood of a Fed rate cut at its October meeting and potentially at its December meeting, said Tom Kozlik, managing director and head of public policy and municipal strategy at HilltopSecurities.

Analyst and market strategist Jeff Lipton joins the team to deliver clarity and thoughtful guidance to a market witnessing evolving complexities — connecting policy moves, credit shifts and investment behavior to help our readers navigate what comes next.

Issuance is light this week, with $5.367 billion on tap, and it should be "easily distributed," J.P. Morgan strategists said.

"Investors were not disappointed," said John Kerschner, global head of securitized products and portfolio manager at Janus Henderson. "Inflation came in softer than expected, leading to a tepid bond market rally" and ensuring a rate cut at the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The northern California school district has been struggling for years and on several occasions abandoned plans to consolidate schools, which rating agencies say might have shored up finances.