Markets

Bond insurers are poised to withstand the possible fallout from ratings downgrades or defaults on the industry's $16 billion of Puerto Rico bond exposure.

Intermediate-maturity munis sent a positive signal amid last week's market lethargy, as their prices stabilized at close to fair value relative to Treasuries.

As issuers prepare to bring more than $4 billion in long-term supply to the primary market this week, negative headlines regarding ongoing mutual fund outflows, as well as the impact of a weakening market for Puerto Rico’s debt and potential fallout from the debt-ceiling debate, continued to weigh on the municipal market.

For the 20th consecutive week, investors pulled money from municipal bond mutual funds, at $729 million for the week of Oct. 9.

Bond Buyer's Municipal Bond Index increased four basis points this week to the highest since Aug. 19.

Inflows of $2.74 billion to tax-exempt money market funds boosted total net assets to $265.90 billion in the week ended Oct. 7 and ended a three-week period of outflows, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

The rally in stocks and slump in Treasury and municipal bonds this year has set the stage for a spate of tax-loss swaps in the remainder of 2013 that may increase muni selling.

In an effort to tap institutional investors' demand for information about Puerto Rico's tumbling debt, San Juan-based financial advisory firm REOF Capital LLC started a research division dedicated solely to municipal bonds issued by the commonwealth's key players.

Municipal analysts and strategists are looking in the health care and housing industries and at credits with intermediate maturities for potential bargains that may be created by irrational fears over the government shutdown and the debt ceiling.

Volume will continue to increase, though it will remain on the lighter side in the week after the U.S. government shut down.