document: UPDATE 1-Bank of America top Q1 muni underwriter ; total falls -LRB- Add details , background ; previous NEW YORK -RRB- SAN FRANCISCO , April 1 -LRB- Reuters -RRB- - Bank of America Merrill Lynch -LRB- BAC.N : Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz -RRB- was the top underwriter of long - and short-term U.S. municipal debt in the first quarter as total issuance fell by more than half from the year-earlier period , according to Thomson Reuters data released on Friday . Bank of America captured the top underwriting spot from January through March with 61 deals totaling $ 6.1 billion , followed by JPMorgan Securities LLC -LRB- JPM.N : Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz -RRB- with 63 deals totaling $ 5.4 billion . Morgan Stanley -LRB- MS.N : Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz -RRB- came in third with 33 deals totaling $ 4.3 billion . Citi -LRB- C.N : Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz -RRB- was fourth with 53 deals totaling $ 3.9 billion . Citi was the top underwriter in the year-earlier period , as ranked by the value of deals . Bank of America , JPMorgan Securities and Morgan Stanley each advanced a rung in Thomson Reuters ' ranking from the year-earlier period based on deal values . Meanwhile , Robert W Baird & Co Inc was the first-quarter 's most prolific underwriter , notching 131 deals totaling $ 1.2 billion . Thomson Reuters data showed new sales of municipal bonds in the first quarter sank to $ 47 billion , the lowest quarterly level in 11 years , from $ 104 billion in the year-earlier period . The number of sales also fell sharply from the year-earlier period , dropping to 1,850 from 2,728 . The $ 2.9 trillion U.S. municipal debt market is facing an issuance drought as investors worry about state and local finances and high interest rates , which have been fueling sizable net outflows from the muni bond funds favored by retail investors . -LRB- Reporting by Chip Barnett in New York and Jim Christie in San Francisco ; Editing by Leslie Adler -RRB-
extractive_keyphrases: total bank of america 1 falls q1 top underwriter update muni showed thomson reuters morgan stanley barnett high interest rates finances totaling background captured issuance outflows fueling sizable yearearlier quarterly favored jpmorgan securities investors notching underwriting christie america municipal
abstractive_keyphrases: new york san francisco firstquarter's merrill lynch bacn update 1bank research stock buzz san francisco editing muni underwriter securities llc jpmn meanwhile robert w baird co inc