WASHINGTON – Business inventories increased 0.4% in April, the fourth consecutive monthly increase, while sales were up 0.6% in the month, the Commerce Department reported today.
Inventories in March were revised higher to 0.7% from 0.4% last reported.
Economists expected inventories to rise 0.5% in April, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The inventories-to-sales ratio dropped to 1.23, and total business sales increased 0.6% for the month.
"The rates market has started to turn from the upper end of the trading range this week," Barclays strategists wrote, but with the war with Iran still driving the market, nothing is certain.
Changes in federal funding are sharpening the focus on how the states will be responding to disaster relief, running social programs and budget planning.
The defendants include many of the largest municipal bond underwriters.
The deal comes as high-yield muni investors are hungry for paper.
Nearly 21% of muni volume traded electronically in the first quarter, up from the previous quarter and surpassing the previous record set in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a Coalition Greenwich report by Kevin McPartland and Neha Jain.
New research from The Bond Buyer finds the federal policy environment once again threatens the tax-exempt status for municipal bonds.
