Posted on: Sunday, January 4, 2004

Money market fund assets fall $5.89B

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds fell by $5.89 billion in the latest week to $907.23 billion, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.

Assets of taxable money market funds in the retail category fell by $4.75 billion to $716.21 billion for the week ended Wednesday, the Washington-based mutual fund trade group said. Tax-exempt fund assets fell by $1.14 billion to $191.02 billion.

Assets of institutional money market funds fell by $2.59 billion to $1.175 trillion for the same period. Among institutional funds, taxable money market fund assets fell by $1.07 billion to $1.075 trillion; assets of tax-exempt funds fell by $1.52 billion to $100.19 billion.

Total money market assets stood at $2.082 trillion for the week.

Assets for the previous week were revised to $2.091 trillion to reflect reporting errors and a change in the number of funds reporting.

The seven-day average yield on money market mutual funds held at 0.53 percent in the week ended Tuesday from the previous week, said Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet Inc. in Westboro, Mass. The 30-day average yield also held at 0.53 percent, according to Money Fund Report.

The seven-day compounded yield held at 0.53 percent from the previous week, and the 30-day compounded yield also held at 0.53 percent, Money Fund Report said.

The average maturity of the portfolios held by money funds was 56 days, down from 58 days, said Money Fund.

The online service Bankrate.com said its survey of 100 leading commercial banks, savings and loan associations and savings banks in the nation's 10 largest markets showed the annual percentage yield available on money market accounts held at 0.50 percent as of Wednesday from a week earlier.

The North Palm Beach, Fla.-based unit of Bankrate Inc. said the annual percentage yield available on interest-bearing checking accounts held at 0.25 percent.

Bankrate.com said the annual percentage yield was 0.93 percent on six-month certificates of deposit, unchanged from the previous week. Yields were 1.15 percent on 1-year CDs, unchanged; 1.83 percent on 2&Mac253;-year CDs, down from 1.85 percent; and 3.11 percent on 5-year CDs, down from 3.13 percent.