Japan in June overtook China as the largest non-US holder of US Treasuries, after raising its holdings to a nearly three-year high, US Department of the Treasury data released on Thursday showed.
Japan’s in June holdings of Treasuries rose to US$1.122 trillion in June, from US$1.101 trillion in May, and were its largest since October 2016.
It was not the first time that Japan supplanted China as the largest non-US Treasury holder.
From January to May 2017, Japan held more Treasuries than China, department data showed.
BMO Capital Markets rates strategist Benjamin Jeffery said in New York that “the generally low and negative-yielding sovereign debt market make Treasuries comparatively more attractive than European and Japanese debt.”
A steepening of the yield curve — when rates on long-term bonds are higher than short-term notes — in June made currency hedging costs “a bit less onerous for foreign buyers,” he added.
China was the second-largest owner of Treasuries with US$1.112 trillion in June, compared with US$1.11 trillion the previous month.
Overall, major foreign holders of Treasuries had US$6.636 trillion of US government debt in June, up from US$6.539 trillion in May, suggesting continued demand for the safe-haven asset.
Foreign flows of the debt instrument showed an outflow of US$7.71 billion in June, from net selling of US$32.785 billion in May.
Foreign official institutions sold US$14.605 billion during the month, compared with outflows from the same group totaling US$21.998 billion in May.
Offshore private investors in June purchased Treasuries amounting to US$7.071 billion.
EQUITIES REBOUND
Data also showed that after 13 straight months of selling, foreigners finally bought US stocks in June to the tune of US$26.589 billion, after outflows of US$1.445 billion in May.
Foreigners also bought US$99.1 billion in net long-term securities, after buying US$4.6 billion in May, the report showed.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last