The sum total of all net foreign acquisitions of all long-term securities, short-term securities and banking flows for December 2024 was a net $87.1 billion, a report released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury said.
According to the Treasury International Capital data report, foreign residents increased their holdings of long-term U.S. Securities in December with a net purchase of $79.6 billion. At the same time, U.S. residents increased their holding of long-term foreign securities, with net purchases equaling $7.6 billion. Net purchased by private foreign investors in long-term U.S. securities equaled $130.5 billion, while net sales by foreign official institutions was $50.9 billion.
The report indicated that after including adjustments like estimated foreign portfolio acquisitions of U.S. stocks through stock swaps, overall net foreign purchases of long-term securities are around $72 billion in December. The report said foreign residents increased their holdings of U.S. Treasury bills by $16.8 billion and increased their holding of all short-term U.S. securities and other custody liabilities by $22 billion.
Additionally, dollar-denominated liabilities owned by banks sold to foreign residents decreased by $6.8 billion.
Report looks at monthly data on long-term security holdings, as well as the Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities. These reflect the foreign holdings of U.S. securities collected primarily based on custodial data. The data gives a window into the foreign ownership of U.S. securities but can’t attribute U.S. securities holdings with complete accuracy.
The report was the final one for 2024. The next report, for January 2025, will be released in March.