Foreigners Buy C$16.81 Billion of Canadian Securities in September

Foreigners in September accelerated their purchases of Canadian securities compared to the previous month, led by the acquisition of government and corporate bonds.

Meanwhile, Canadian acquisitions of foreign securities slowed markedly in the month.

Foreign investors bought a net 16.81 billion Canadian dollars ($13.16 billion) in Canadian securities in September, Statistics Canada said Thursday. This marked an increase from foreign net purchases of a revised C$9.77 billion in the previous month.

Nonresidents concentrated their purchases in Canadian bonds, which reached C$18.73 billion in September. Canadian long-term rates were up by 0.29 percentage points in the month, the data agency said, noting the Bank of Canada raised its policy rate in September after an earlier increase in July. The Canadian dollar also appreciated slightly against the U.S. dollar in September.

Canada is running a sizable current-account deficit, and therefore requires money from abroad to help finance consumption and investment. As a triple-A rated sovereign, Canada attracts foreign-investor interest.

The data also indicate Canadians in September bought a net C$2.41 billion in foreign securities, compared to the C$12.07 billion in acquisitions in the previous month.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 16, 2017 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)