Municipal bond mutual funds saw inflows into weekly-reporting funds, albeit barely, for the first time in 10 weeks.
Muni bond funds that report their flows weekly saw $22 million enter the market for the week of May 8, Lipper FMI numbers showed. For the week of May 1, weekly reporting funds saw $391 million in outflows.
Though yields dont clearly reflect this, the muni market had a decent week. Primary issuancewas relatively well-received. Secondary activity was slight.
Tax-exempt yields since Friday narrowly outperformed those of Treasuries through the belly of the curve. The 10-year triple-A yield climbed seven basis points over the period to 1.75%.
The 30-year yield leapt five basis points to 2.87%; the two-year yield slipped one basis point to 0.28%.
Treasury yields, by comparison, rose across the curve. The benchmark 10-year yield jumped eight basis points to 1.82%
The 30-year skipped up five basis points to 3.00%. The two-year yield ticked up one basis point to 0.23%.
Muni ratios to Treasuries remained around 96% beyond the front end of the yield curve. The two-year dropped 10 percentage points since last Friday to 122% through muni outperformance.
Assets for all muni funds that report their flows weekly fell last week to $327.8 billion. The week prior, they reported $328.5 billion.
The value of the holdings for weekly reporting funds plunged by $745 million. The week before, they rose by $1.58 billion.
The four-week moving average for all municipal bond mutual funds that report their flows weekly was $252 million of outflows, compared to $415 million of outflows the week before.
Outflows continued for a 10th straight week for long-term bond funds that report their flows weekly, at $15 million. They reported $118 million of outflows last week.
High-yield muni funds recorded their third consecutive week of outflows, following two straight weeks of inflows.
High-yield funds that report flows weekly saw $69 million in outflows, Lipper said. The previous week, they reported $74 million in outflows.
Assets for high-yield funds that report their flows weekly fell to $45.88 billion, down from $46.02 billion reported the week before.
The value of the holdings for weekly reporting high-yield funds fell by $79 million. Last week, they increased by $349 million.
The four-week moving average for all high-yield municipal bond funds that report their flows weekly showed $52 million of outflows, falling from $18 million of outflows the week before.
