Foreign holdings of US Treasuries rose in July for a second straight month despite an uncertain interest rate outlook muddied by a mixed set of economic figures, the Treasury Department showed on Monday, according to Reuters.
Key quotes
“Total holdings of U.S. Treasuries climbed to $7.655 trillion in July, up from $7.562 trillion in the previous month. Compared to a year earlier, overseas holdings were up 2.2%.”
“China’s stash of Treasuries dropped to $821.8 billion, the lowest since May 2009, when it had $776.4 billion.”
“Analysts said China has been under pressure to defend its weakening currency, the yuan, and the selling of US debt may have been used for intervention purposes to prop it up.”
“There is a huge inflow into US Treasury debt despite a lot of volatility in rates in July,”
“Japan is still the largest non-U.S. holder of Treasuries with $1.112 trillion in July, up from $1.105 trillion in June.”
Market reaction
The above statement fails to move the needle around the Australian Dollar. AUD/USD is trading at 0.6437, gaining 0.01% on the day.
