Primary bond market

The Investment Company Institute reported investors pulled another $290 million out of municipal bond mutual funds in the week ending May 10.

The up to $600 million of airport revenue bonds, which are slated to price in July, will continue funding for the reconstruction of the terminal and concourses.

The market is seeing a supportive environment for munis, said Nisha Patel, managing director of SMA Portfolio Management at Parametric.

The county began exploring a new facility eight years ago. Studies concluded the current facility was ill-equipped to deal with overcrowding, in poor physical condition and its design fell short of current standards.

"With rates volatility seemingly subsiding in the past few weeks, we could start to see outflows decrease and demand flow back into munis," according to AmeriVet Securities' Jason Wong.

Investors will be greeted Monday with a new-issue calendar estimated at $6.018 billion with a few bellwether, triple-A names coming from Loudoun County, Virginia, Frederick County, Maryland, and Columbia University with sizable deals.

Banks reduced their quarterly muni holdings during the first quarter at the fastest rate in 20 years, per Municipal Market Analytics.

"Our ratings reflect the progress the city has made over time on important issues like rebuilding reserves and improving the health of our pension fund," said Philadelphia Treasurer Jackie Dunn.

Outflows were seen again from municipal bond mutual funds, though they lessened this week as Refinitiv Lipper reported $101.664 million was pulled as of Wednesday.  

The CPI numbers coming in pretty much as expected "was a relief" to the markets, with the bond market rallying after the release, said Luke Bartholomew, senior economist at abrdn.