Global Demand for Long-Term U.S. Assets Rose to Record in March - Bloomberg.com

Bloomberg:

Global demand for long-term U.S. financial assets strengthened in March to a record, as investors from China to the U.K. purchased the most Treasuries since November, a Treasury Department report said.

Net buying of equities, notes and bonds totaled $140.5 billion in March compared with net buying of $47.1 billion in February, the report, released today in Washington, showed. Including short-term securities such as stock swaps, investors abroad purchased a net $10.5 billion, compared with net buying of $9.7 billion the previous month.

Signs of a sustained economic recovery, including a rebound in earnings and stock prices, may increase demand for U.S. investments, economists said. The world’s largest economy has expanded for three consecutive quarters and added 573,000 jobs in the first four months of the year.

“There is heightened concern about the inability of developed nations to regain control over their fiscal finances, but almost all countries are in the same boat, and global investors have to park the money somewhere,” Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said before the report.

Economists in a Bloomberg News survey expected a $50 billion net increase in long-term U.S. financial assets in March, according to the median of seven estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in March rose 5.9 percent, its biggest gain since April 2009, while the Dollar Index, a gauge of the U.S. currency’s strength against six other major currencies, gained 0.9 percent. U.S. Treasuries declined 0.9 percent in March, according to an index compiled by Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit.

Posted via email from Jim Nichols