Led by Canadian investors snapping up U.S. stocks, foreign securities buying outpaced the offshore acquisitions of Canadian securities in February, Statistics Canada reports.
Domestic investors added a total of $10.5-billion-worth of foreign securities in February, driven by $9.7 billion in U.S. equities.
The buying activity focused on shares of large-cap tech firms, and broad market index funds, StatsCan said.
At the same time, foreign investors bought $8.5-billion-worth of Canadian securities in February, activity that was also driven by equities.
“Foreign acquisitions of Canadian shares reached $9.5 billion in February, the largest investment in four years,” StatsCan said, noting that Canadian bank shares represented the bulk of the foreign buying.
Foreign investors also added $10 billion of Canadian corporate debt in the month, but sold $11.2-billion-worth of federal government debt.
Canadian investors bought $958 million in foreign debt securities in February, StatsCan noted, with that activity driven by U.S. corporate bond buying — somewhat offset by selling U.S. Treasury bills.
On balance, the economy saw $2 billion in portfolio outflows during the month.