Markets

Blackstone Inc. is refinancing tax-exempt debt for a 76-story residential tower in downtown Manhattan designed by famed architect Frank Gehry.

Chicago plans to bring to market $806 million of bonds on Thursday, a refinancing deal that will help close its fiscal 2024 budget gap.

The company hopes to come to market after completing negotiations on $6 billion of senior bank financing.

Muni investors hope "any move toward higher yields is steady, even dignified, such that it doesn't catalyze an outflow cycle that would countervail year-to-date total returns just before we close out the year," said Vikram Rai, head of municipal strategy at Wells Fargo.

Munis ended November in the black with the asset class seeing gains of 1.73% for the month, pushing year-to-date returns to 2.55%.

The product is designed to compartmentalize information and provide a unified system to monitor bank activities, forecast cash inflows and outflows, and prevent fraud.

With an estimated $13 billion calendar on tap, demand for paper will be bolstered by the $16 billion of redemptions coming Monday while mutual fund inflows, this week at about $560 million and concentrated in the long-end, signal solid investor support. Munis are returning 1.73% in November as of Friday.

The Investment Company Institute reported $1.221 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Nov. 20. Exchange-traded funds saw inflows of $836 million.

November's total is below the 10-year average of $32.278 billion and is the lowest monthly total this year. The year's total is about $25 billion short of $500 billion.

A complex refinancing continues Chicago's break from past scoop-and-toss deals but front-loads savings to help balance its budget.