Global Demand for U.S. Assets Increased in February (Update1)
By Vincent Del Giudice
April 15 (Bloomberg) -- International demand for U.S. stocks, bonds and other long-term financial assets strengthened in February as investors bought more equities and government securities, a Treasury Department report showed.
Net buying of long-term stocks, notes and bonds was $47.1 billion in February, compared with net purchases $15 billion in January, according to the report released today in Washington. Including short-term securities such as stock swaps, foreigners bought a net $9 billion compared with net sales of $10.2 billion the previous month.
Signs that a sustained U.S. recovery is taking hold, including rising stock prices, may increase the flow of foreign investment into the world’s largest economy, analysts said. The U.K. has more than doubled its holdings since October.
“Foreigners continue to find U.S. assets attractive,” said Win Thin, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York. “We remain unwilling to claim that big global reserve managers are dumping U.S. dollar assets on a sustained basis.”
Before today’s report, economists in a Bloomberg News survey projected long-term U.S. financial assets would show a net increase of $29.7 billion in February. Forecasts from the five economists who participated in the survey ranged from $5 billion to $50 billion.
The Treasury’s reporting on long-term securities captures international purchases of government notes and bonds, stocks, corporate debt and securities issued by U.S. agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy home mortgages.
U.K.’s Holdings
The U.K.’s holdings rose 12.2 percent to $231.7 billion in February from a month earlier.
Some investors may grow concerned about the sustainability of a U.S. budget deficit that’s approaching last year’s record of $1.4 trillion.
China remained the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, even after its holdings fell by $11.5 billion to $877.5 billion. That was the fourth straight monthly decline in China’s holdings.
Japan, the second-largest holder, increased its holdings by $3.1 billion to $768.5 billion in February, and Hong Kong’s holdings rose $5.8 billion to $152.4 billion.
Total net foreign purchases of Treasury notes and bonds were $48.1 billion in February compared with buying of $61.4 billion in January. That was the third straight month of smaller net purchases of U.S. government debt, the report showed.
Agencies
Foreign demand for U.S. agency debt from companies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac registered net buying of $2.4 billion in February after net selling of $5 billion in January.
Net foreign purchases of equities were $12.4 billion in February after net purchases of $4.5 billion in January. Investors sold a net $12 billion in U.S. corporate debt in February selling of $24.6 billion in January.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in February rose 2.9 percent, and the Dollar Index, a gauge of the U.S. currency’s strength against six other major currencies, rose 1.1 percent. U.S. Treasuries gained 0.4 in February, according to an index compiled by Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit.
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