Bond funds

Federal officials are pushing for reauthorization while cities tout their planning.

The nation's capital is a hub of potential sports facility financing.

An influx of investment into high-yield munis has created challenges for fund managers forced to compete against each other to get in on new bond offerings.

The broader market awaits Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, but Thursday brought some helpful labor news — unemployment claims dropped to the lowest since before the pandemic-caused economic shutdowns and layoffs plunged in June.

With various Federal Reserve officials airing their views since the Federal Open Market Committee’s latest meeting, it may take a while for members to reach agreement on tapering, a boon for municipals.

Analysts are taking the view that muni investors expect higher taxes and are brushing off inflation concerns. U.S. Treasuries are another story.

The lineup of exclusively short-duration fixed-income products, taxable and municipal, still managed an overall gain.

Four out of the six economic indicators released on Thursday surpassed expectations, with consumers tapping their savings to quench pent-up demand. U.S. Treasuries made gains but municipals stood on their own in an impressive two-day rally with insatiable demand.

The top 20 performers nearly doubled the gains of their peers over the period.

Refinitiv Lipper reported $2.64 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds. The overwhelming demand for the large deals priced this week demonstrates the flood of available cash that continues to support a strong market.

These 20 mutual funds and ETFs here are home to roughly $45 billion in assets.

The top 20 more than doubled the gains of their fixed-income industry peers.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans says monetary policy will need to remain “accommodative for quite a while,” since inflation won’t hit a 2% average for “a long time.”

Refinitiv Lipper reported tax-exempt mutual funds saw $1.288 billion of inflows in the week ended Dec. 23, the seventh week in a row investors put cash into the funds.

The current deal deluge is causing a minor yield pullback, but levels have been steadier than many probably thought, trader said.

There are plenty of taxable deals on the upcoming week’s new-issue calendar while several large deals from issuers in New York will be in the spotlight after Moody's downgrades.

ICI reports another $2 billion inflow week while new issues fare well. High-grades around the 2026 maturity were trading in large blocks showing stability.

Secondary trading picked up somewhat while the new-issue market saw a large amount of taxables in the negotiated space while Pennsylvania competitively sold $470 million of general obligation bonds.

Municipals were steady to weaker, with yields up by as much as three basis points on the long end Thursday.

Municipal bonds finished out the month on a strong note, with yields dropping by as much as two basis points on Friday.