April foreign purchases of longer term assets totaled $11.2b, less than estimates of $60b and down from $55.4b in March but the components were mixed. Purchases of US Treasuries totaled $41.9b which while down from $55.3b in March, is still well above the one year average of $25.3b. Foreigners sold agency paper for a 2nd straight month and they were net sellers of corporate bonds by $9.7b after buying a net $3.5b in March. Purchases of US stocks totaled $4.6b down from $13.2b in March. A large portion of the net selling was attributed to foreign selling of foreign bonds and stocks that trade here which totaled a combined $23b vs selling of only $1b in March. China sold $4.4b of treasuries but after buying $23.7b in March and Japan sold $800mm but after buying $24.8b in March. The rally in stocks and coincident selloff in treasuries in April was reflected in the $8.9b selling of treasuries from the Caribbean, where many hedge funds are located.
