Four months in a row of selling U.S. Treasuries! In July, China’s holdings hit a new low since 2009_Economy_Macro Channel Home Page_Financial Network-CAIJING.COM.CN

U.S. official data shows that in July, when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points as expected and the market expected this round of interest rate hikes to come to an end, the performance of China and Japan, the two major overseas “creditors” of U.S. Treasury bonds, still diverged, and China continued to sell. , positions hit a new low, but the total size of U.S. debt held overseas hit a new high.

On Monday, September 18th, Eastern Time, the U.S. Treasury Department released the International Capital Flows Report (TIC), which showed that in July this year, the total number of U.S. Treasury bonds held overseas increased by $92 billion from June to $7.65 trillion, a record high of $2 last year. A new high since the beginning of the month.

Broken down by country and region, Japan still holds the top position in overseas holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds. It held a total of US$1.1125 trillion in July, an increase of US$6.9 billion from its holdings in June. It has increased its holdings of US Treasury bonds for two consecutive months and the fifth month this year. bonds, but the increase in holdings in June and July has not yet offset the sharp reduction in holdings in May. In May, Japan reduced its holdings of U.S. debt by $30.4 billion, the largest monthly reduction since October last year.

The TIC report shows that mainland China was still the second largest overseas holding of U.S. debt after Japan in July, but its holdings in July have declined for the fourth consecutive month. In July, it held a total of 821.8 billion U.S. dollars, the second consecutive month. The month hit a new low since June 2009, a decrease of US$13.6 billion from June, and at least more than US$10 billion was reduced every month from May to July.

Since April last year, China’s U.S. debt holdings have been below $1 trillion. As of February this year, China has reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasuries for seven consecutive months, and its total holdings have hit a new low in more than 12 years for seven consecutive months. After increasing its holdings in March and April, in May it hit a new low since May 2010. .

Wall Street News noted that TIC data showed that among the top ten countries and regions with the largest U.S. bond holdings, a total of six increased their holdings in July. Among them, the Cayman Islands, which ranked seventh in total holdings, increased its holdings by US$31.5 billion, the largest increase. Canada, which ranked eighth, and Luxembourg, which ranked fourth, increased its holdings by US$22.9 billion and US$18.1 billion respectively. The increases in other countries and regions Not as good as Japan. Among the countries and regions that have reduced their holdings, Belgium has reduced its holdings by US$13.7 billion, which is only US$100 million higher than mainland China and the United Kingdom, which ranks next in total holdings. Switzerland has reduced its holdings by US$4.2 billion.

Although the TIC report shows that China has repeatedly sold off U.S. Treasury bonds in recent months, some commentators say that China’s holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds appear to have decreased, but in fact they have turned to agency bonds with higher yields.

Chinese official data shows that China’s foreign reserves have continued to rebound since the middle of this year. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) announced last month that China’s foreign exchange reserves in July were US$3.2043 trillion, an increase of 0.35% from June, an increase for two consecutive months.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said that due to the combined effects of factors such as exchange rate conversion and changes in asset prices, the size of foreign exchange reserves increased in June. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said that global financial asset prices generally rose in July. Affected by factors such as the monetary policies and expectations of major economies, global macroeconomic data, and other factors, the U.S. dollar index fell that month.

At the same time, China continued to increase its gold holdings in July. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced that gold reserves in July were 68.69 million ounces, an increase of 740,000 ounces from June and a month-on-month increase for the ninth consecutive month.

Public data shows that all major U.S. stock indexes rose in July, with the S&P and Nasdaq rising for five consecutive months for the first time in two years, while the U.S. dollar fell for two consecutive months. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) and the Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Spot Index each fell by about 1 % and 1.2%, U.S. bond prices rose and fell mixedly.

The price of the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note continued to fall in July, with the yield rising by about 16 basis points, rising for three consecutive months. The yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury note, which is more sensitive to interest rates, fell by about 2 basis points, rising in a row. It fell back after two months.

Gold rebounded strongly in July when the market expected an end to central bank interest rate hikes and the dollar weakened. New York gold futures rose by about 2.1% that month, the largest monthly increase in four months since March, wiping out most of the decline of about 2.7% in June, the largest monthly decline in four months, reversing a two-month losing streak.

Overseas investment funds have net inflows into the United States for two consecutive months

The U.S. TIC report on Monday showed that after the U.S. Congress finally reached an agreement in June to resolve the debt ceiling crisis, overseas investment funds continued to flow back into the U.S. asset market.

Including investments in U.S. long-term and short-term securities and bank flows, net overseas capital inflows in July were US$140.6 billion, marking two consecutive months of net inflows, with the inflows exceeding US$140 billion each.

Among them, overseas private investors had a net outflow of US$168.2 billion in May and a net inflow of US$140.6 billion in July, exceeding the US$119.8 billion in June. The net inflow of funds from overseas official institutions such as central banks and sovereign wealth funds was US$8.8 billion. It is far less than the US$28 billion in June, but higher than the US$600 million inflow in May.

Overseas private investors purchased a net US$45.6 billion in U.S. long-term securities in July, far less than the US$183.9 billion in June. Among them, private investors bought a net US$58.6 billion, while overseas official institutions bought a net US$60.2 billion in June. Net sales of $13.1 billion in July

Including U.S. stocks purchased by overseas investment portfolios through stock swaps, after some adjustments, overseas net purchases of U.S. long-term securities in July were US$8.8 billion, far lower than the US$195.9 billion in June and lower than the US$175 in May. One hundred million U.S. dollars.

(Editor: Wen Jing)