Markets

Municipal bond funds stayed on a fund flow see-saw, reporting inflows for the latest week.

In the week ended Oct. 8, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index fell one basis point to 4.37% from 4.38% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

Kroll has weighed in on Chicago’s 2016 budget, praising the spending plan for a key property tax increase but warning of unresolved challenges and one-shot revenue boosts.

Some municipal bond strategists are adding risk to boost fourth-quarter yields following the Federal Reserve Board’s decision on Sept. 17 to keep rates unchanged, while other are playing a more defensive game.

In the midst of a spate of municipal bankruptcies and a credit crisis in Puerto Rico, a report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency highlighted a divergence among the credit rating services.

Municipal bond funds experienced another turn around and reported outflows, after recording inflows last week, according to Lipper data released on Thursday.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, was four basis points lower to 4.38% for the week ended Oct. 1 from 4.42% in the previous week

Chicago's steep borrowing costs should come down if the City Council adopts Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed 2016 budget and property tax hikes, the city's chief financial officer, Carole Brown, told council members.

Interactive Data announced on Tuesday the launch of its Liquidity Indicators Service for municipal and corporate bonds. The service will let subscribers access a series of security- and portfolio-level “Liquidity Indicators,” which are aimed at helping companies manage liquidity risk in any type of economic cycle, the company said.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel brought the case for a budget proposal that hikes property taxes to fund police and firefighter pensions before the municipal bond market on Monday. Speaking in Manhattan to the Municipal Forum of New York, Emanuel said that the only alternative to his budget is to make massive cuts in the city’s workforce and services.