Foreign purchasers bought $351 million worth of Canadian securities in July, a marked decline from the $61.9 billion they invested over the first six months of the year, Statistics Canada said Monday.

Non-residents rebalanced their debt holdings by disposing of short-term paper in July and acquiring $3.6 billion in bonds. Money-market holdings were reduced by a similar amount, the agency said.

Non-resident demand for Canadian stocks also lagged. Foreigners bought about $612 million worth of Canadian stocks, as demand for bank and financial shares offset sellers of gold and energy firms in July.

Canadian stock prices posted a fifth straight monthly gain during the month.

Meanwhile, Canadian investors added a moderate $824 million in foreign shares in July, compared with a $3.8 billion acquisition the month before.

Emerging market stocks were comparatively popular, while European energy stocks were sold heavily.

Overall, Canadians sold $526 million of foreign securities during the month, as sales of bonds coupled with weak demand for foreign stocks.

IE