Buy side

Retail demand for municipal bonds continued to surge last week as mutual funds that invest in state and local government debt posted their second biggest weekly inflow of the year.

The municipal market is expected to see a mixed bag of state general obligation and revenue financings this week, including two taxable Build America Bond issues for transportation projects, as an estimated $6.86 billion of new long-term volume is slated for pricing amid strong demand, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes declined during the seven-day period ending Thursday as tax-exempts continued to rally to historical lows.

Tax-free money market funds regained some of their luster the week ending Aug. 9, as total net assets increased by $941.5 million to $346.3 billion, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMonetNet.com.

Low yields continue to do little to deter investors from stuffing more cash into municipal bond mutual funds.

A municipal bond market starved for a hearty batch of tax-exempt paper is not going to get it this week.

CHICAGO — There is cautious optimism for the nonprofit health care sector as operating performance and debt-market access show improvement after two years of financial turmoil.

Tax-free money market funds caught a small breather last week with their smallest outflow in a month.

Nearly all of The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes fell during the seven-day period ending Thursday as firmness persisted in the municipal market.

Natalie Cohen has become the latest new hire in the burgeoning market for high-profile municipal research analysts.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Environmental sustainability. That was the main factor driving the California-based nonprofit RSF Social Finance to invest through its customized fixed-income portfolio in a municipal bond deal from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in March.

Special assessment and tax-increment financing bonds from regions prone to property bubbles and busts are most vulnerable to the continuing weakness of the commercial real estate market, according to a Fitch Ratings report released Tuesday.

While Build America Bonds have limited the supply of tax-exempt issuance, strong demand from retail investors is also playing a vital role in lowering issuers’ borrowing costs to historic lows.

Market gains and new money from investors continued to push municipal bond mutual funds’ assets to records last week.

Minnesota will lead a modest slate of new state and local government debt issuance this week as it comes to market with a competitive $865 million general obligation deal.

Tax-free money market funds suffered a big exodus of cash last week as investors continue to grow disgruntled with paltry yields.

Nuveen Investments announced plans Thursday to purchase First American Funds’ long-term asset business as part of a strategy to offer a more diverse suite of products to investors.

Money market funds are taking advantage of higher short-term interest rates the past few months to reclaim some of the management fees they have been waiving to avoid negative yields.

Nearly all The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes declined this week, finishing off a mostly-firmer period with hints of ­weakness.

Buoyed by the strength of the long-term municipal market over the past 18 months, mutual fund assets have climbed to record levels, and portfolio managers have had little need to make major changes to their current investment strategies.