Foreign investment in U.S. bonds surged for the fifth consecutive month as Treasury securities offer attractive yields.
Treasury International Capital (TIC) data published on Nov. 18 show foreign investors purchased $169 billion in U.S. government bonds in September, totaling a record $8.673 trillion.
Foreign investors bought a mix of short- and long-term bonds. Treasury bills—maturities between 30 days and 1 year—continue to appeal to bond investors, providing yields as high as 4.6 percent.
Japan and China, the two largest holders of U.S. debt, trimmed their holdings in September.
Tokyo erased about $6 billion, lowering its portfolio of Treasury securities to $1.123 trillion. Beijing reduced its holdings of U.S. government bonds by more than $2 billion to $772 billion….