Markets

The Investment Company Institute reported more outflows from municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Dec. 13, with investors pulling $588 million from the funds.

The county plans to sell $2.5 billion of tax-exempt sewer revenue warrants to refund the debt issued to finance its 2013 exit from Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

The Bloomberg Municipal Index has returned 1.90% so far in December and 5.96% year-to-date, while the High-Yield Index is up 2.75% this month and 8.94% in 2023. Taxable munis are returning 3.98% in December bringing year-to-date returns to 7.83%.

The rebound in the cruise industry, which has now more than recovered all the ground it lost during the pandemic, lifted the Canaveral Port Authority's rating.

The Philadelphia-based financial advisory firm has used BVAL for several years, but once the full interpolated curve and the intraday hourly changes were released on the EMMA, PFM decided to use BVAL as its primary pricing curve.

With fears of further Fed hikes subsided, Birch Creek strategists said with "loads of cash still sitting on the sidelines, and expectations that cash will no longer earn 5%+, we believe the muni market will benefit in 2024 from a return of investors looking to allocate to the asset class."

Triple-A yields fell up to five basis points Friday while USTs were mixed. Munis still underperformed taxables on the week, but the setup for the asset class going into yearend is decidedly positive.

The muni market finances the "fabric of our nation, and now, because of Citi's exit, the cost of financing for state and local governments is going to go up," a sell-side source said.

The $250 million of new money social bonds will finance public school construction projects, with another $190 million refunding debt issued to build schools.

Secondary trading showed clear strength across the yield curve Thursday with bellwether names trading up significantly from recent prints and original pricing levels. New-issues in the primary benefited with issuers repricing to lower yields and tight to triple-A curves.