Mutual funds

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $2.446 billion of outflows, though that was down from $2.669 billion of outflows in the previous week.

Valuations look increasingly attractive relative to other fixed income asset classes, even as rising interest rates continue to weigh on the market, strategists say.

Municipal returns in April were deeply negative, bringing the year-to-date figure to near 9% losses, the largest posted on the Bloomberg Muni Index since its inception in the 1980s.

Total April volume was $34.329 billion in 729 deals versus $37.105 billion in 1,124 issues a year earlier.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $2.875 billion of outflows, down from $3.548 billion of outflows in the previous week.

In the week ending April 13, investors pulled $5.526 billion from the funds, down from $7.227 billion of outflows in the previous week, ICI reported.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $3.548 billion of outflows, down from $4.106 billion of outflows in the previous week.

The Investment Company Institute reported investors pulled $7.2 billion from municipal bond mutual funds, the largest figure since the outlier months of March 2020 when investors yanked $24 billion in two weeks.

The second quarter should bring more opportunity and less volatility following the worst quarter in four decades, analysts said.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds as the Investment Company Institute on Wednesday reported $4.786 billion of outflows, up from $4.459 billion of outflows in the previous week.

Triple-A yields continue to rise, with the two-year muni just below 2%, the five well above and the 10-year approaching 2.5%.

Supply for the holiday-shortened week is $4.8 billion. Municipals performed the worst since 1980 in the first quarter of 2022, but some analysts see the pain subsiding.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $3.247 billion of outflows, of that $1 billion was high-yield. ETFs are still seeing inflows.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds as the Investment Company Institute reported $4.5 billion of outflows in the week ending March 30.

Hawkish Fed comments caused UST yields to rise by as much as 17 basis points, just as munis had caught a bid. The new-issue market fared well in digesting large deals amid the volatility.

Municipals have taken a hit in the first months of 2022, but higher yield levels and cheaper ratios have offered possibilities for both retail and institutional buyers, analysts say.

Without a reversal in UST or municipal bond mutual fund outflows, munis will continue to be pressured.

More outflows from municipal bond mutual funds were reported as bid lists surpass $1 billion 22 times in 2022.

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Outflows continue but dropped significantly in the latest week with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $662 million of outflows from municipal bond mutual funds following $2.823 billion the week prior.