Markets

The flow of new cash into municipal bond mutual funds continued to recede last week as investors began to rediscover their appetite for risk.

Nearly all The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes rose slightly as an influx of new-issue supply weighed on municipals.

CHICAGO — The continuing-care retirement community sector is starting to show signs of stabilization after suffering through two years of hardship, according to credit analysts.

Tax-exempt money market funds experienced significant outflows during the week ending Sept. 27, virtually mirroring the previous reporting period, as $2.73 billion fled the market, leaving the funds with $331.62 billion in total net assets, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

CHICAGO — Municipal investors shouldn’t automatically shun an issuer’s debt due to a severe unfunded pension obligation without a more in-depth review that includes an issuer’s ability to address the liability, Nuveen Investments suggests in a new report on state and local pensions for investors.

Municipal issuers that are more likely to have trouble renewing bank guarantees supporting floating-rate debt face greater scrutiny from Moody’s Investors ­Service, the rating agency said in a report Wednesday.

The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Wednesday released a report arguing that higher interest rates on taxable bonds issued by Illinois and California indicate they are more likely than other states to default on their debts.

State and local government tax receipts grew modestly in the second quarter of 2010 as an acceleration in consumer spending boosted sales tax revenue.

While municipal market professionals said they do not believe there is systemic risk in state and local government debt, there are underlying issues and credit challenges.