Highlights
Foreign demand for U.S. securities was strong during the collapse of September, especially for both short- and long-term Treasuries. Foreigners purchased a net $66.2 billion of long-term securities in the month including a net $15.8 billion in 2-year through 30-year bonds, a big vote of confidence in the value of Treasuries and one that will ease questions, at least for now, over the depth of foreign demand. Private foreign accounts showed strong demand for long-term government agency debt though foreign central banks were big sellers of agencies. Both private and official foreign accounts were net sellers of corporate bonds, no surprise given aversion of risk in the credit market. For U.S. equities, foreigners were net buyers, at a sizable $11.5 billion in possible evidence of bottom fishing.

But the biggest flow of all was into short-term Treasuries where foreign holdings, both private and official, jumped $89.9 billion, nearly three times the total in August and compared against $4.2 billion and $6.5 billion in the prior months of relative quiet. Demand for Treasuries in September was especially strong from Chinese-based accounts for a third straight month. Japanese accounts were net sellers of Treasuries for a second straight month. Markets showed no significant reaction to the data which nevertheless are a positive for all U.S. assets.

2008 Release Schedule

Released On: 1/16 2/15 3/17 4/15 5/15 6/16 7/16 8/15 9/16 10/16 11/18 12/15 Released For: Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct