International investors sell a record amount of US assets
The US Treasury Department announced yesterday that August saw a record net outflow of $69.3bn from US assets (equities, notes and bonds). This is particularly alarming considering that expectations had been for a $60bn inflow. The outflow was a combination of international investors selling US assets, and US investors buying international assets.
Perhaps most interesting of all was that Chinese investors decreased their holdings of US Treasuries by $8.8bn, while the Japanese reduced exposure to US assets by $24.8bn. Richard recently argued on this blog that a falling away of Asian support for US assets should cause the dollar to weaken.
The value of investments will fluctuate, which will cause prices to fall as well as rise and you may not get back the original amount you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
18 years of comment
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