|
Taxable money funds, which are seen as almost as safe as bank
accounts, are offering higher yields than most U.S. Treasuries.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields were 1.588% on Wednesday after
hitting 1.475% last week, which was a three-year low.
Total money fund assets increased by $17.11 billion to $3.328
trillion in the week ended Aug. 20, putting them at their
highest level since October 2009, the Money Fund Report said.
Money fund assets have grown by $357 billion, or 12%, since the
end of 2018.
Taxable money market fund assets increased by $17.37 billion to
$3.192 trillion, but tax-free assets fell by $261.90 million to
$135.69 billion, according to the report, published by iMoneyNet.
The iMoneyNet average seven-day simple yield for taxable money
funds fell to 1.79%, the lowest level since October, from 1.80%
a week earlier. The weighted average maturity among taxable
funds lengthened by one day to 30 days.
The iMoneyNet average seven-day yield for tax-free and municipal
funds rose to 0.96% from 0.94% the week before. The weighted
average maturity of tax-free funds was unchanged at 29 days.
U.S. money market rates have stabilized in the aftermath of the
Federal Reserve's first rate decrease since 2008 at the end of
July.
Traders widely expect the U.S. central bank to lower key
overnight rates by another quarter point at its policy meeting
next month to counter risks from a softening global economy and
disruptions from the trade conflict between China and the United
States.
GRAPHIC: U.S. money fund assets -
https://fingfx.
thomsonreuters.com/gfx/
editorcharts/FUNDS-IMONEYNET/0H001PBE14XC/
eikon.png
(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Tom Brown)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
