Net outflows among municipal bond mutual funds that report their flows weekly climbed to the highest level of the year when investors pulled $1.24 billion as of April 20, according to Lipper FMI.
The outflows — which coincided with the arrival of the April 18 federal income tax deadline to file personal returns — caused the total assets of the weekly reporters to drop to $309.60 billion.
Among all municipal bond mutual funds, including those that report their figures monthly, the four-week moving average rose to $983.51 million of outflows versus $831.37 million in the week ended April 13. It was the third consecutive week that the four-week moving average of outflows had increased since reaching a yearly low of $605.20 million on March 30.
As municipal yields continued a week-long period of firming, the value of all muni bond mutual funds increased for a second week in a row, skyrocketing by a whopping $1.96 billion in the week ended April 20 as total assets grew to $462.25 billion. That compares with growth of just $157.04 million the previous week when total assets ended with $461.58 billion.
Short-term yields ended two basis points lower on Thursday, intermediate yields finished down one to three basis points, while longer maturities firmed one to two basis points. The enduring rally has so far pushed the benchmark 10-year muni yield to 2.99%, its lowest since March 22.
