Mutual funds

Municipal bond mutual funds saw inflows as investors added $549.2 million after $94.9 million of outflows the week prior, according to LSEG Lipper.

Despite losses, munis are "being set up nicely" as the summer season approaches, said Jeff Lipton, a research analyst and market strategist.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw the second week of outflows as investors pulled $217.6 million from the funds after $546.2 million of outflows the week prior, according to LSEG Lipper. High-yield saw inflows again.

"In terms of credit quality, high-yield funds proved resilient" while investment-grade funds saw outflows of $673 million, noted J.P. Morgan's Peter DeGroot in a market note.

Muni exchange-traded funds are "dominated" by retail and are "momentum driven," said David Litvack, a tax-exempt strategist and chief investment officer at BofA.

The "historical runway" heading into Memorial Day is favorable, rolling into the summer redemption months of June through August, said James Pruskowski, chief investment officer at 16Rock Asset Management.

Munis posted losses in April, returning negative 1.24%. The asset class is also seeing losses of 1.62% year-to-date.

"Bond market investors are all wishing that April was behind us as they are anxious to hear the Fed's statement at its next FOMC meeting," noted BofA Global Research. "The statement should be no surprise as the market consensus has converged to 'higher for longer' rates.

Inflows returned to muni mutual funds as investors added $200.3 million for the week ending Wednesday after $1.474 billion of outflows, according to LSEG Lipper.

The new-issue calendar will be a "good test to see if the higher absolute yields can pull buyers off the sidelines or if underwriters need to widen spreads significantly enough to reprice the entire market to clear the deals," according to Birch Creek strategists.