Mutual funds

High-yield saw outflows of $867.067 million after $594.497 million of outflows the week prior while exchange-traded funds saw inflows of $736.967 million after $444.544 million of inflows the previous week.

Investors pulled $3.843 billion from mutual funds in the week ending Oct. 26 after $3.876 billion of outflows the previous week, according to ICI.

Outflows continued as investors pulled $3.876 billion from mutual funds in the week ending Oct. 19 after $4.532 billion of outflows the previous week, according to the Investment Company Institute.

"The curve slope has undergone a massive flattening this year and recent trends suggest demand pockets are developing in specific ranges," said Kim Olsan, senior vice president of municipal bond trading at FHN Financial.

Outflows continued as investors pulled $4.532 billion from mutual funds in the week ending Oct. 12 after $5.172 billion of outflows the previous week, according to the Investment Company Institute.

U.S. Treasuries saw more losses and municipal to UST ratios fell on the day's moves with the long bond valuation below 100%.

Bids wanteds are on the rise, but a constructive secondary market showed a steady to firmer market in the past two sessions. ICI's latest outflows figure is the highest since June.

Triple-A yields rose more than three-quarters of a point on the front end and nearly half a point out long in September as munis posted 3.84% losses.

For the first three quarters, total issuance sits at $308.440 billion, down from $361.932 billion in 2021. Taxables are down 48.0% to $45.724 billion from $87.979 billion.

In the competitive market Thursday, the New York Urban Development Corp. sold $1.443 billion of tax-exempt personal income tax revenue bonds.

A larger new-issue slate led by large deals from the Texas Water Development Board and state of Illinois took focus away from the secondary.

Retail investors may be moving out of municipal bond mutual funds and into separately managed accounts, largely due to the headline shock of the massive outflows from the funds, participants say.

Munis were little changed while long UST improved and equities ended in the red after the FOMC raised the fed funds rate target 75bps to a range of 3% to 3.25% and members are leaning toward a rate of 4.4% by yearend.

Municipals saw more cheapening on the short end Friday as selling pressure persisted all week.

"Everyone is trying to figure out when the outflow cycle is over," said Craig Brandon, co-director of municipal investments at Eaton Vance.

The Investment Company Institute reported $2.034 billion of outflows from muni bond mutual funds in the week ending Sept. 7 compared to $2.594 billion of outflows the previous week.

The Investment Company Institute reported $2.527 billion of outflows from muni bond mutual funds in the week ending Aug. 31 compared to $765 million of outflows the previous week.

Outflows from municipal bond mutual funds continued as investors pulled $1.180 billion out of funds in the latest week, according to Refinitiv Lipper data.

The Investment Company Institute reported $230 million of inflows into muni bond mutual funds in the week ending August 17. ETFs see second week of outflows.

Join Peter O'Neill, Director and Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager, at Bank of America, and Blake Lynch, Head of Business Development, IMTC, as they discuss the role of separately managed accounts in the muni market with The Bond Buyer's Lynne Funk.