Secondary bond market

Volume for the upcoming week is estimated at $8.34 billion, consisting of $6.30 billion of negotiated deals and $2.04 billion of competitive sales.

Underwriting fees generated for the board totaled some $7.4 million, an almost 50% drop from the $14.3 million the board received in 2020.

Outflows lessened, with the Investment Company Institute reporting investors pulled $3.157 billion from mutual funds in the week ending Jan. 4, after $3.402 billion of outflows the previous week.

"There was strong demand for the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Authority deal, which was three times oversubscribed," said a New York trader.

This week's "manageable" calendar will continue what has been a quiet start to the new year in the municipal market, according to John Mousseau, president and chief executive officer and director of fixed income at Cumberland Advisors.

Investors will be greeted Monday with a new-issue calendar estimated at $4.303 billion.

Outflows continued as Refinitiv Lipper reported $2.477 billion was pulled from municipal bond mutual funds in the week ending Wednesday after $1.946 billion of outflows the week prior.

The muni market "is being teed up to enter 2023 from a relative position of strength," said Jeff Lipton, managing director of credit research at Oppenheimer Inc.

"Bond investors bid a not-so-fond farewell to 2022 as they look forward to a much more attractive 2023," said Bryce Doty of Sit Investment Associates.

The value of the municipal bond market decreased by 4.3% in the third quarter of 2022, said Pat Luby, a strategist at CreditSights.