Canadians continue to sell foreign stocks: StatsCan

Canadian investors continued to pare back their holdings of foreign securities in February, Statistics Canada reports.

According to the national statistical agency, domestic investors shed $9.7 billion worth of foreign holdings in February, which followed an $11.4-billion divestment in January.

In particular, investors sold off foreign equities again in February. Investors dumped $11.5 billion worth of foreign stocks in the month, led by $9.4 billion in U.S. equities, StatsCan said.

The selling of equities was moderated by investors adding $1.8 billion worth of foreign debt in February, primarily U.S. corporate debt.

At the same time, foreign investors added $7.4 billion in Canadian securities in February, led by corporate bond buying.

StatsCan reported that offshore investors added $18.2 billion in Canadian corporate bonds in February. Yet this was somewhat offset by a record $9.1 billion in sales of federal money market instruments.

Foreign investors also trimmed the Canadian equity holdings by $1.0 billion in February, up from $641 million in January.

Overall, the combination of foreign buying and Canadian investors selling resulted in a $17.1-billion net inflow to the Canadian economy in February.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.