Municipal bond mutual funds saw a week of slight inflows.
For the week ended April 4, muni bond funds saw a mere $63.2 million in inflows from funds that report their flows weekly, according to Lipper FMI. Muni bond funds thinned considerably from the week ended March 28, when there were net inflows of $430 million.
Still, inflows are inflows, and the streak continues for the muni market. There have been 18 consecutive weeks of inflows in the market, and 29 weeks in positive territory out of the past 31.
The past week saw higher muni bond yields and indexes, but ample demand and a strong tone, investors and traders said. And though they posted a mixed performance against their Treasury brethren, muni yields sit enough above historic lows to look attractive.
What’s more, investors have bags of cash on hand to spend, and little of quality sitting around in the secondary market. Thus, primary deals have found an eager audience.
This week, assets for funds that report their flows weekly ticked up to $289.6 billion from $289.2 billion the previous week.
The value of the holdings for weekly reporting funds rose for the first time in four weeks. This past week, they rocketed by $254 million. The week before, they had soared by $1.56 billion.
The four-week moving average for all municipal bond mutual funds that report their flows weekly saw a $320 million inflow, down from a $604 million gain the week before.
High-yield muni funds also saw inflows, though barely. They have been positive for 16 of the previous 17 weeks.
Funds that report weekly saw $69.0 million in inflows, Lipper said. The previous week, high-yield funds reported $97.8 million in inflows.
Assets for high-yield funds that report their flows weekly rose to $38.13 billion, up slightly from $37.94 billion the previous week.
The value of the holdings for weekly reporting funds rose by $116 million. Last week, they rose by $247 million.
The four-week moving average for all high-yield muni bond funds that report their flows weekly was an $86 million inflow, down from a $141 million inflow the week before.
