Foreigners Bought C$11.43 Billion of Canadian Securities in November

By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--Foreigners turned back to Canadian securities in November after three straight months of divestments, with investments in government and corporate debt offsetting sales of equities.

Nonresident investors in November purchased a net 11.43 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of $8.47 billion, in Canadian securities, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. That follows divestments totaling C$15.88 billion in October and C$15.09 billion in September.

The data agency said foreign investors added C$15.9 billion of Canadian debt securities to their portfolios, after three consecutive months of divestment totaling about C$33.2 billion. The investment was led by a roughly C$9.7 billion investment in federal government debt securities, and non-resident investors acquired $7.75 billion of Canadian corporate bonds, mainly new bonds denominated in U.S. dollars and issued by companies in the financial and the transportation industries.

Non-resident holdings of Canadian shares fell by C$4.47 billion in November, a 10th monthly divestment in 2023 and building on sales of C$2.21 billion the month before.

For the month, Canadian investors bought C$12.53 billion in foreign securities, including what Statistics Canada said was an unprecedented investment in U.S. government bonds.

The agency said Canadians added about C$10.1 billion worth of U.S. government bonds, with a focus on longer-term instruments, and at the same time invested some C$2.6 billion in non-U.S. foreign bonds, largely government debt.

Canadians reduced their holdings of foreign equities by C$545 million, adding to a big sale of equities the month before.

As a result, international transactions generated a net outflow from the Canadian economy of roughly C$1.1 billion in November.

The monthly international securities report covers a portfolio of transactions in equity and investment fund shares, bonds and money market instruments for both Canadian and foreign issues. The activity excludes transactions in equity and debt instruments between affiliated enterprises.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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