Markets

While challenges abound — shuttered industries, outmigration and COVID — there are positive signs the territory’s economy can be boosted.

Refinitiv Lipper reported $238.926 million of outflows, but $182.035 million of inflows to high-yield, reversing last week's outflows. New-issues faced concessions.

The Investment Company Institute reported a large drop of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds at $142 million in the week ending Jan. 12, down from $1.413 billion in the previous week.

The 2-, 5- and 10-year UST is higher than before the pandemic began as investors factor in a rate hike as soon as March.

The largest deal of the week comes from the New York City Transitional Finance Authority with $950 million of exempts and $250 million of taxables.

The junk-rated Chicago Public Schools sold $872 million of new-money and refunding bonds into a rockier market for high-yield paper Thursday.

BofA Securities led with $62.01 billion of deals. Out of the top five, only Morgan Stanley increased its market share year-over-year.

For investors in the municipal bond market, 2021 proved to be a year of hurdles. This is likely to change, particularly for investors in the municipal bond market.

The primary led Thursday's firmer tone while Chicago schools faced 10 to 20 bp penalties compared to price talk, signifying investors are being more selective and demanding more in the new higher-yield range.

The Internal Revenue Service has released guidance providing temporary relief for low-income housing tax credit and private activity bond-financed properties due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19.