Primary bond market

With a lot of cash still needing to be put to work, the Investment Company Institute showed another large week of inflows at $1.814 billion.

Municipals have not tracked directly with the UST moves, where the 10- and 30-year UST has risen 24 and 26 basis points, respectively, from Wednesday. Municipals have seen yields rise by 16 and 11 basis points.

The district follows up on a taxable refunding with some new money and refunding as the ink dries on pension legislation that removes the threat of insolvency.

Chris Johns and JT Thompson, portfolio managers at the Aquila Group of Funds talk about the possible return of a BABs-like program and if it’s good or bad news for the tax-exempt bond market. They also discuss infrastructure, tax-exempt advance refundings and monetary policy. (21 minutes)

The high-grade muni scales saw cuts of up to four basis points in a continued selloff Monday as the market faces a robust slate of new issues.

Month-to-date returns for municipals are in the red with the Bloomberg Fixed Income Indices municipal index returning -0.12%, high-yield at -0.15% and taxables at -0.32%.

U.S. Treasuries sold off by double digits while municipals cut levels by one to three basis points. Refinitiv Lipper reported another $1.55 billion of inflows for the 29th consecutive week.

Municipals continue to stay in their own lane. ICI reported $1.4 billion of inflows in the 28th consecutive week.

The authority's officials have adjusted to the hit from COVID-19 through toll hikes, capital plan reductions and lines of credit.

Data released Tuesday reflected a murky picture on the strength of the economy, but the market’s eyes were fixed on the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting in Washington, D.C.