Foreigners buy more at US bond auctions in late August

Foreigners buy more at US bond auctions in late August

As foreign purchases recovered a bit last month, large fund managers bought modestly less Treasury supply.

People walk past the International Monetary Fund headquarters building in Washington. (Reuters pic)
NEW YORK:
Foreign investors bought more US government debt at auctions in late August, hinting at a pause from their pullback in purchases due to global trade tension and a strong dollar, government data released on Monday showed.

The US Treasury Department awarded overseas private and government accounts US$4.426 billion (RM18.36 billion) of the US$36 billion worth of two-year note supply, the most since February, according to the Treasury’s auction allotment data.

Offshore investors bought US$3.134 billion of the US$37 billion in five-year Treasuries offered, up from the US$2.833 billion they purchased in July.

The Treasury allotted US$4.909 billion of the US$31 billion in seven-year notes to foreign investors, their highest amount since February.

As foreign purchases recovered a bit last month, large fund managers bought modestly less Treasury supply.

They bought US$15.372 billion of the latest two-year note supply, down from US$16.922 billion the previous month.

The US Treasury awarded fund managers US$23.494 billion of five-year notes offered in August, a tad more than the US$23.292 billion it allotted in late July.

Fund managers ended up with US$18.501 billion of seven-year debt supply, down from US$18.790 billion the month before.

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