Markets

Tax-exempt municipal money market funds double-downed on outflows as a whopping $4.70 billion poured out in the week ended April 18 and total net assets fell to $312.10 billion, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Chicago's $1 billion sale of third-lien revenue bonds for O'Hare International Airport will be the centerpiece of an otherwise relatively light post-holiday market this week.

In one of the skimpiest new-issue weeks so far this year, the municipal market will see only an estimated $1.43 billion of new bonds, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

Tax-free municipal money market fund assets declined by $2.25 billion to $316.80 billion in the week ending April 11, representing a major acceleration of outflows from the previous week, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

March was the third month in a row that retail investors were net buyers of individual municipal bonds, and it also was the fifth consecutive month that mom-and-pop investors sold more shares of muni mutual funds than they purchased, according to the March Transparency Report published by BondDesk Group LLC.

In the face of ongoing muni weakness and the approaching federal income tax deadline, municipal bond mutual funds that report their flows weekly saw losses rise significantly as $1.14 billion left the $462.10 billion industry in the week ended April 6, according to ­Lipper FMI.

The municipal market will get a boost of fresh supply this week as issuers from Texas, New York, and Louisiana prepare to price some of the largest deals to surface in weeks with volume estimated to be $4.34 billion, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.