Home Breadcrumb caret Industry News Breadcrumb caret Industry U.S., Canadian stocks drove cross-border portfolio flows: StatsCan Canadian bank stocks lured foreign buyers, while domestic investors jumped at U.S. techs By James Langton | April 16, 2021 | Last updated on April 16, 2021 1 min read © gopixa / 123RF Stock Photo Led by Canadian investors snapping up U.S. stocks, foreign securities buying outpaced the offshore acquisitions of Canadian securities in February, Statistics Canada reports. Domestic investors added a total of $10.5-billion-worth of foreign securities in February, driven by $9.7 billion in U.S. equities. The buying activity focused on shares of large-cap tech firms, and broad market index funds, StatsCan said. At the same time, foreign investors bought $8.5-billion-worth of Canadian securities in February, activity that was also driven by equities. “Foreign acquisitions of Canadian shares reached $9.5 billion in February, the largest investment in four years,” StatsCan said, noting that Canadian bank shares represented the bulk of the foreign buying. Foreign investors also added $10 billion of Canadian corporate debt in the month, but sold $11.2-billion-worth of federal government debt. Canadian investors bought $958 million in foreign debt securities in February, StatsCan noted, with that activity driven by U.S. corporate bond buying — somewhat offset by selling U.S. Treasury bills. On balance, the economy saw $2 billion in portfolio outflows during the month. James Langton James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994. Save Stroke 1 Print Group 8 Share LI logo