Markets

Congress hopes an expansion of the taxable municipal bond market will introduce new types of investors to state and local bonds.

Cash influxes into municipal bond mutual funds slowed again last week as the market continued to pummel state and local government bonds.

When institutional investors and price-evaluation services disagree, bet on the institutional investors.

The total assets of tax-exempt money market funds rose by $3.65 billion to $485.77 billion during the week ending March 9 — only the third time the funds have seen inflows since January, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

The Securities Industry Financial Markets Association is phasing out its indexes tracking auction-rate securities as the credit crisis renders the market inactive.

Nearly all The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes rose this week, as the municipal market dealt with a sizeable slate of primary market issuance, and bond prices cheapened slightly throughout the week.

Municipal bonds simultaneously are historically cheap and historically expensive in the current market environment.

Amid brisk trading of Puerto Rico debt in the secondary market, analysts have mixed feelings about the prospect of the commonwealth selling new debt this year.

Investors shrugged off a rough patch for municipal bonds and continued plowing money into muni mutual funds last week.

An $800 million sale of general revenue bonds from the University of California Regents will kick off the activity in the primary market and will be part of an estimated $5.15 billion in total negotiated and competitive sales planned for pricing this week, according to Thomson Reuters.