Public finance

ARKANSAS

CONNECTICUT

Flows to muni bond mutual funds, though still negative, recovered much of their lost ground over the previous two weeks.

After another year of record low municipal bond interest rates, next year is expected to see a slight increase in yields, according to municipal research analysts.

The 12th-hour deal to keep the U.S. from plunging over the fiscal cliff and the yearly rollover of rates provided the impetus for municipal bond yields and indexes on the week to climb.

Growing traffic between the United States and its international neighbors is leading to a need for more border road crossings, but a new HNTB white paper stresses the need for careful and conservative revenue studies for near-border toll points.

Natixis Global Asset Management, which recently acquired McDonnell Investment Management, has launched a new municipal bond fund.

MASSACHUSETTS

IDAHO

The South Carolina Alliance to Fix Our Roads has begun to lobby for an increase in the state's motor fuel tax to fund more than $50 billion in needed transportation improvements.

Table as of: 12/31/2012 10:15 AM Invisible Supply Issuer and purpose Amount

Long-term municipal bond volume rose modestly for the month of December, closing the door gently on a year that saw record low interest rates spur an upsurge in refundings.

The Indiana Finance Authority finalized its agreement and reached commercial close on a deal with WVB East End Partners to design and build the state's part of the massive bi-state Ohio River Bridges Project.

IOWA

The Public-Private Partnership sector will experience broad but slow growth in the coming year, experts predict.

Volume in the municipal bond market should climb incrementally from the holiday week, to $161.3 million, up from total sales of just $14.0 million last week.

INDIANA

For a second consecutive week, flows to muni bond mutual funds got hammered. Funds that report their flows weekly recorded outflows of $423 million for the week ended Dec. 26.

Slight activity in the municipal market during the holiday week left tax-exempt yields mostly unchanged since last Friday, but accounted for mostly lower indexes.

Traders took a varied view of the municipal market Thursday. While some secondary market traders reported a decent amount of activity in the intermediate part of the muni yield curve throughout the day's session, others said they heard little more than crickets over the span.