Muni Bond Funds See Inflows at $574M

Municipal bond mutual funds continued to see inflows, though the numbers fell for a third straight week.

Those muni bond funds that report their flows weekly recorded $574 million in inflows for the week of Jan. 30, Lipper FMI numbers showed. That compared with inflows of $871 million the week ended Jan. 23. Though positive for the fourth consecutive week, they were down considerably from two consecutive weeks of inflows that surpassed $1 billion earlier in the month.

Muni yields rose up to eight basis points beyond the front end of the curve on the week since last Friday. Muni ratios to Treasuries in the same part of the curve, though, remained around 90%.

Traders described activity in the primary and secondary markets for the week as mostly light.  Two of the week’s larger deals, from issuers in North Carolina and Illinois, were pulled.

January volume was up almost 40% for the month, compared with one year earlier.

After rising four consecutive weeks, assets for all muni funds that report their flows weekly decreased to $325.2 billion from $325.6 billion the week before.

The value of the holdings for weekly reporting funds was negative for the first time in six weeks, falling by $1.34 billion. The week before, it increased by $293 million.

The four-week moving average for all municipal bond mutual funds that report their flows weekly was $1.11 billion of inflows, up from $965 million the week before.

Long-term bond funds that report their flows weekly reported strong flows for the week, even though overall numbers fell. They reported inflows for a fourth consecutive week, at $286 million, representing a decrease from the $579 million of inflows they reported the week before.

High-yield muni funds also reported inflows for a fourth straight week, albeit barely. For perspective, they were positive for most of 2012.

High-yield funds that report weekly saw $83 million in inflows, Lipper said. The previous week, they reported $279 million in inflows.

Assets for high-yield funds that report their flows weekly rose for a fifth straight week to $45.04 billion, up from $44.76 billion the week before.

The value of the holdings for weekly reporting high-yield funds fell by $184 million. Last week, they rose by $97 million.

The four-week moving average for all high-yield municipal bond funds that report their flows weekly was $268 million of inflows, rising from $222 million of inflows the week before.

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