Munis Shine Amid Data Gaps and Market Uncertainty

Nuveen’s CIO Weekly Commentary (27 Oct 2025), led by Saira Malik, highlights how municipal bonds are regaining investor favor as U.S. data delays and high equity valuations create a foggy outlook.

• The ongoing U.S. government shutdown is delaying critical inflation and labor data, forcing the Fed and investors to rely on market-based inflation signals, which remain stable around 2.3%.

• S&P 500 earnings up +9.2% YoY reflect strong corporate health, but with a forward P/E of 22.6x, much of the optimism is already priced in—raising the appeal of defensive, income-generating assets.

• Municipal bonds are seeing renewed inflows (+$35.5B YTD), with steepening yield curves and robust credit fundamentals creating attractive tax-equivalent yields near 9.5% for top-bracket investors.

Could munis offer the right mix of defense and yield as uncertainty clouds traditional assets? The full commentary explores Nuveen’s latest allocation insights.