Economic indicators

The Federal Reserve must be prepared to move if inflation continues to surprise to the upside, according to one Fed president, while another again stated a desire for the Fed to pull back on its accommodation.

Refinitiv Lipper's $1.85 billion of inflows say investors aren't going anywhere.

The Investment Company Institute on Wednesday reported $2.533 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds, the highest since February.

Tuesday’s data may not be indicative of where the economy is going and will likely be written off by the Federal Open Market Committee at its meeting, analysts say.

Most analysts expect the Federal Open Market Committee will alter its Summary of Economic Projections and perhaps begin to talk about tapering, without offering clues when they'll begin cutting back on asset purchases.

The Investment Company Institute reported $1.089 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds, marking the 13th consecutive week.

The U.S. Treasury 10-year dipped to its lowest yield since March while municipal investors poured money into new deals and secondary trading helped push benchmarks even lower.

Economists are bracing for another volatile monthly jobs report and some forecasters are tweaking their models ahead of Friday's data.

The revenue sector winners in May included healthcare with +0.53% gains, transportation with +0.42%, each benefiting from "the reach for yield and improving metrics," analysts said.

Municipal yields will likely stay in a narrow range with trading activity subdued unless larger interest rate volatility unexpectedly sets in, analysts say.

The fundamentals of the muni market have investors stuck in a low-rate environment without much of an alternative. Refinitiv Lipper reported $1.466 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds with $813.8 million into high-yield.

Triple-A municipal benchmark yield curves were bumped one to two basis points, lagging a four basis point rally in U.S. Treasuries after weaker consumer sentiment and dovish comments from Fed officials moved equities lower.

Strong technicals have been the theme, and with federal aid and better-than-expected tax receipts coming in, issuers are not tapping the market as much as investors would hope.

The new-issue market came alive with two high-grade competitive loans and the speculative-grade Pacific territory pricing bonds to strong demand.

Price indexes in the latest New York manufacturing survey came in higher than expected, furthering inflation concerns.

After facing outside economic data pressures and rising U.S. Treasuries, municipals ended the week on solid footing ahead of a larger calendar with newly upgraded Connecticut leading with $1 billion of exempt and taxable GOs.

Refinitiv Lipper reported $750 million of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending May 12 while high-yield funds saw $487 million of inflows.

While the pressure was on municipal yields, which rose two to four basis points, the Investment Company Institute reported another week of inflows, with $928 million coming into municipal bond mutual funds and another $285 million into ETFs.

First quarter FDIC data show a $10.75 billion-plus jump in U.S. banks’ net purchases of municipal securities, the eighth biggest quarter since 2003, MMA says.

Tighter spreads and richer ratios are likely to continue, particularly as looming tax increases amplify the value of the tax-exemption, but analysts are hesitant to predict how much lower rates can go before investors balk.