Canadians buy up foreign stocks in January

Statistics Canada says Canadian investors added $2.3 billion of foreign securities in January, a fourth straight month of increases to their holdings.

At the same time, the agency says, foreign investors acquired $1.1 billion of Canadian securities, led by equities.

As a result, cross-border transactions in securities generated a net outflow of funds for a second consecutive month.

Canadian acquisitions in the month focused on U.S. bonds and equities, but this activity was moderated by a reduction in Canadian holdings of U.S. money market instruments.

Canadian investment in foreign bonds totalled $1.5 billion and was again led by U.S. government bonds.

Foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian debt securities by $1.8 billion in January, following a $6.6 billion divestment in December.