Primary bond market

After one of the worst sell-offs in municipal market history as COVID-19 began its rampage in March, the market rebounded to set the all-time record.

Dominick D'Eramo, head of fixed income at Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors, talks with Chip Barnett about how the municipal bond market did in 2020 and what may be on tap for munis in the new year. (12 minutes)

Municipal bond funds saw $2.086 billion of inflows in the week ended Dec. 22, the Investment Company Institute reported Wednesday after a $2.517 billion inflow the week prior.

While there are no major sales on the calendar for this week, some larger deals from and Texas, California, New Jersey and Colorado issuers are on tap for the first few weeks of 2021.

Refinitiv Lipper reported tax-exempt mutual funds saw $1.288 billion of inflows in the week ended Dec. 23, the seventh week in a row investors put cash into the funds.

IHS Ipreo estimates the week's bond volume at $7.3 million in a calendar composed only of small negotiated deals.

A record year of overall issuance, led by a boom in taxables, tells the story of a growing muni market with a broader, more diverse investor base.

Taxable munis have posted the highest returns among all fixed-income indexes this year, BofA said.

The county board signed off on about $600 million of borrowing and the financing teams that will bring the deals to market in January.

Munis were flat Monday as the entire curve was said to be undergoing a consolidation.