Crane 100 MF Index Yield Breaks 1.0%
Money market mutual fund yields surged last week, rising from 0.96% to 1.07%, according to our Crane 100 Money Fund Index, an average of the largest money funds. Our broader Crane Money Fund Average, which currently includes 653 funds, rose from 0.81% to 0.91%, while our Prime Institutional Money Fund Index rose from 1.04% to 1.15%, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. The top-yielding money market funds (see the table on the www.cranedata.com homepage) are now at 1.44% and should break over 1.5% next week as funds continue to digest the latest interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve. (Contact us to see our latest MFI Daily.) Wells Fargo Strategists Garret Sloan and Vanessa Hubbard wrote Friday, "In terms of money market fund rates, we have seen 7-day yields rise across all three major asset categories. According to Crane Data, the average government fund yield is 99 basis points, eleven basis points higher than last week's level. Furthermore, prime funds are yielding an average 7-day yield of 1.15 percent, also eleven basis points higher than last week's level. Lastly, the average 7-day tax-exempt money market fund yield is 70 basis points, 13 basis points higher than last week's level."
