Secondary bond market

Muni and UST yields surged Tuesday on expectations the Fed will have to aggressively raise interest rates to bring down inflation.

Even after investors received an infusion of $18 billion of matured and called bond proceeds on Sept. 1, muni prices have continued to weaken, note CreditSights strategists Pat Luby and John Ceffalio.

The calendar for the week of Sept. 12 is at $6.6 billion while Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply sits at $14.15 billion.

Outflows from municipal bond mutual funds receded as investors pulled $1.090 billion out of funds in the latest week, versus the $3.416 billion of outflows the prior week, according to Refinitiv Lipper data.

The Investment Company Institute reported $2.527 billion of outflows from muni bond mutual funds in the week ending Aug. 31 compared to $765 million of outflows the previous week.

The muni market may get a temporary boost of support this week as investors received $18 billion of maturing and called bond proceeds on Sept. 1.

Investors will be greeted Tuesday with a larger new-issue calendar, estimated at $6.087 billion, up from total sales of $5.551 billion in the week of Aug. 29.

The Investment Company Institute reported $755 million of outflows from muni bond mutual funds in the week ending August 24 compared to $320 million of inflows the previous week.

After underperforming USTs last week, "munis have given up their earlier performance advantage for August with both asset classes currently earning virtually the same negative returns," said Jeff Lipton, managing director of credit research at Oppenheimer Inc.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's message on rates last week combined with seasonal factors to give the market a "weird" vibe this week, one trader said.

Investors will be greeted Monday with decreased supply with the new-issue calendar estimated at $5.882 billion, down from total sales of $6.134 billion in the week of Aug. 22.

Outflows from municipal bond mutual funds continued as investors pulled $1.180 billion out of funds in the latest week, according to Refinitiv Lipper data.

The Investment Company Institute reported $230 million of inflows into muni bond mutual funds in the week ending August 17. ETFs see second week of outflows.

Join Peter O'Neill, Director and Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager, at Bank of America, and Blake Lynch, Head of Business Development, IMTC, as they discuss the role of separately managed accounts in the muni market with The Bond Buyer's Lynne Funk.

Don't expect much new information to come from Jackson Hole this year analysts say, as the data-dependent FOMC will rely on incoming economic numbers in September to decide the proper size rate hike.

Losses for August climbed last week, with month-to-date returns in the red at negative 1.40% on the Bloomberg muni index, high-yield seeing 0.99% losses, taxables at 2.01% losses and the impact index losing 1.70%.

Investors will be greeted Monday with a decrease in supply with the new-issue calendar estimated at $6.711 billion, down from total sales of $10.318 billion.

Investors pulled $229.263 million out of muni bond mutual funds in the latest week, versus the $635.177 million of outflows the prior week, according to Refinitiv Lipper. High-yield continues to see inflows.

The short end was hammered in the secondary with large blocks of high-grades showing big swings to higher yields while the rest of the curve wasn't spared the damage and triple-A yields rose by seven to 16 basis points.

It was a busy day in the primary Tuesday, with New York City pricing $950 million of GOs for retail and Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, selling in the competitive market.