Foreigners sell record Treasury debt
Print Edition
FOREIGN investors sold a record amount of US Treasury bonds and notes for April, according to US Treasury Department data, as investors priced in a few more rate increases by the Federal Reserve this year.
Foreigners sold US$74.6 billion in US Treasury debt in the month, after purchases of US$23.6 billion in March. April’s outflow was the largest since the US Treasury started recording Treasury debt transactions in January 1978.
Private offshore investors sold US$59.1 billion in US government bonds, while foreign official institutions, which include central banks, sold US$12.3 billion.
US economic data in April included a decent non-farm payrolls report for March, along with strong manufacturing as measured by the Institute for Supply Management. That prompted investors to sell Treasuries in April, as did an upswing in risk appetite, with buoyant global stocks and rebounding oil prices.
Yields on US 10-year Treasury notes at the beginning of April were 1.7910 percent, and they hit a high of 1.9410 late in the month.
China remained the largest foreign holder of US government debt, although its holdings in April declined to US$1.244 trillion, from US$1.245 trillion in March. US Treasury holdings of the world’s second-largest economy declined for a second straight month.
Japan, the No. 2 foreign US Treasury debt holder, posted higher US government debt holdings of US$1.143 trillion from US$1.137 trillion in March. Japan raised its US Treasury holdings for a fourth straight month.
Overall, foreign central bank holdings of US Treasuries fell to US$6.239 trillion in April, from US$6.287 trillion in March.
Data also showed foreigners sold long-term US securities in April after buying them for the previous two months.
Offshore investors unloaded US$79.6 billion in long-term US assets.
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