2010.07.1909:42:00UTC+00Foreign Investment In Canadian Bonds Soars In May

Canadians trimmed holdings of foreign securities during the month, but the nation's debt remained attractive to foreign investors in May, official data showed Monday.

Statistics Canada said non-residents investment in Canadian securities strengthened substantially to C$23.2 billion, most notably for federal government debt instruments. This was up from C$12.36 in the previous month.

Non-residents acquired C$15.2 billion of Canadian bonds in May, the largest investment since the high of C$19.5 billion in May 2009.

With the loonie easing versus the dollar, US investors dominated while investors from the United Kingdom and Asian countries also made large contributions to the inflows over the month.

Foreign purchases of Canadian stocks nearly doubled in May to C$5.3 billion, the largest inflow so far in 2010.

Meanwhile, Canadian investors sold C$2.9 billion of foreign securities from their holdings, the largest repatriation of funds from abroad since January.

Canadian investors sold C$5.3 billion of foreign bonds in May, but added a further C$2.1 billion to their holdings of foreign stocks, all in US shares.

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