Markets

The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes rose this week, as tax-exempt bond prices fell for most of the period despite a mild recovery in tone over the past two sessions.

After a short-lived tide of inflows, tax-exempt money market funds lost $2.94 billion and finished with $351.84 billion for the week ending June 14, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Invesco PowerShares plans to launch its second exchange-traded fund devoted to Build America Bonds, highlighting both the proliferation of municipal ETFs and the growing importance of taxable state and local government debt.

Revenue bond issues for large transportation initiatives in three states and two sizeable note deals will be at the forefront of the primary market this week.

Household ownership of municipal bonds catapulted over the $1 trillion mark for the first time ever in the first quarter of 2010. Meanwhile, foreign investors seeking a greater footprint in the municipal market via taxable Build America Bonds held $71.9 billion in their largest-ever presence in the market, according to new Federal Reserve data released yesterday.

All of The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes rose this week, as bond prices declined consistently throughout the period.

Tax-exempt funds recouped nearly half of the losses they suffered last week as $1.87 billion of inflows boosted total net assets to $354.79 billion for the week ending June 7, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Billion-dollar deals will make a comeback this week when both Los Angeles County and Cook County, Ill., test the municipal waters, hoping for strong investor demand in the midst of the spring rollover season.