Markets

Municipal bond mutual fund outflows continued to subside last week from recent record-setting levels as the cash most prone to panic appears to have left by now.

Issuers in South Carolina and California will face little competition as they lead an otherwise light slate of new volume in the competitive and negotiated markets estimated at just $2.62 billion, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

Tax-exempt money market funds fell $2.34 billion to $324.39 billion in net assets in the week ended Jan. 31, according to the Money Fund Report.

Nearly all of the Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes were flat to higher this week as losses during the second half outweighed earlier minor gains.

Gridlex, a risk-management and trade analytics service, announced the launch Tuesday of a service evaluating the illiquidity of municipal bond mutual fund holdings.

Climbing the wall of expiring bank guarantees on municipal debt in the coming months may not turn out to be as daunting as anticipated.

Municipal bond mutual fund outflows moderated last week as a nervous market seemed better able to absorb the relentless fund selling.

With a $1.1 billion Chicago airport deal postponed, the New York City Transitional Finance Authority and North Carolina instead will offer two of the largest deals in a lackluster week as February starts with an estimated $3.02 billion of volume, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

To present a more integrated and timely view of states’ total debt obligations, Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday announced that for the first time it will combine net tax-supported debt and unfunded pension-liability figures when evaluating state ratings.