Citigroup Bucks Herd in Call for ‘Intense, Prolonged Rally’ in Muni Market

  • The investment bank says munis may return more than 8% in 2020
  • Tax-exempt municipal bonds gained more than 7% last year
Customers use an ATM at a Citibank branch.Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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Citigroup Inc. analysts are standing apart from the Wall Street pack by predicting that the municipal-bond rally may be gaining steam.

Vikram Rai, Jack Muller and Vedanta Goenka, who track the state and local government debt market for the bank, said in a note to clients that the securities may return more than 8% in 2020 as cash continues surging into the market. That would come after tax-exempt bonds gained more than 7% last year, their biggest annual jump in five years.