Foreign investment in Cdn securities dropped in December: StatsCan

OTTAWA - Statistics Canada says foreign investors cut their holdings of Canadian securities by $4.3 billion in December, mainly bonds denominated in Canadian dollars.

The agency says Canadian investors acquired $3.7 billion of foreign securities, led by U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds.

Foreign holdings of Canadian debt securities fell by $6.6 billion in December, the largest decline in six months.

This activity reflected a divestment in Canadian bonds, partially offset by an investment in Canadian money market instruments.

Non-residents' holdings of Canadian bonds were down by $10.9 billion in December, with the reductions focused on federal government bonds with short-term maturities and federal government business enterprise bonds.

This activity was moderated by foreign investment of $4.3 billion in the Canadian money market as non-residents acquired U.S. dollar provincial government and private corporate paper