Crane 100 MF Index Inches Up to 4.40%
Money fund yields inched higher last week after jumping last month following the Fed's 25 basis point hike on Feb. 1. Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (7-Day Yield) rose 1 basis point to 4.40% in the week ended Friday, 3/3. Yields rose by 2 basis points the previous week and they're up from 4.15% on Jan. 31, 2023. Money fund yields have risen from 4.05% on 12/31/22, from 3.59% on Nov. 30, from 2.88% on Oct. 31 and from 2.66% on Sept. 30. Yields should be flat in coming days, but they should jump again following the Fed's next meeting on March 22. The top-yielding money market funds have broken above 4.70% and should move towards 5.0% in April. (See our "Highest-Yielding Money Funds" table above). The Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 681), shows a 7-day yield of 4.28%, up 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst MFs were unchanged at 4.49% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs rose by 2 bps to 4.33%. Treasury Inst MFs up 2 bps for the week at 4.32%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.10%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.05%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.32%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down at 2.58%. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (3/3), just 6 money funds (out of 816 total) yield between 0% and 1.99% with $456 million, or 0.0%; 125 funds yield between 2.00% and 2.99% with $118.4 billion, or 2.2%; 110 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($85.5 billion, or 1.6%), and 575 funds yield 4.0% or more ($5.065 trillion, or 96.1%). Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, dropped 1 bp to 0.54% after increasing the week before. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of March 3, shows that there was one change over the past week. RW Baird decreased rates to 1.68% for all balances between $1K and $999K, to 2.58% for balances between $1 million and $1.99 million, and to 3.32% for all balances over $5 million. Just 3 of 11 major brokerages still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
