U.S. money market assets rise five straight weeks: iMoneyNet

[May 30, 2019]  By Richard Leong

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. money market fund assets rose for a fifth consecutive week, bringing its total to more than a nine-year high as investors pour cash into low-risk funds on concerns about escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, a private report released on Wednesday showed.

U.S. money fund assets increased by $17.26 billion to $3.110 trillion in the week ended May 28, the Money Fund Report said.

During this five-week span, total fund assets increased by $101 billion.

(GRAPHIC: U.S. money fund assets link: https://tmsnrt.rs/2Em6sNq).

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was not yet ready to make a deal with Beijing.

On Wednesday, a Chinese Communist Party newspaper warned the United States that Beijing was ready to use rare earths - used in high-tech consumer electronics and military equipment - to retaliate on trade.

Taxable money market fund assets increased by $18.95 billion to $2.972 trillion, while tax-free assets decreased by $1.69 billion to $137.58 billion, according to the report, published by iMoneyNet.

The iMoneyNet average seven-day simple yield for taxable money funds slipped to a five-month low at 2.02%. The weighted average maturity among taxable funds shortened to 29 days from 30 days.

The iMoneyNet average seven-day yield for tax-free and municipal funds held at 0.99%, the lowest since late January. The weighted average maturity of tax-free funds remained at 22 days.

(GRAPHIC: U.S. money fund assets interactive link: https://tmsnrt.rs/2ElkcI2).

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

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