Net foreign investment in Canada highest since June 2023

Foreign investors’ exposure to Canadian securities has expanded by a net $14.37 billion in March following a net divestment of $4.28 billion in February, the latest data by Statistics Canada showed.

It has been the highest figure since June 2023 and it well outpaced market consensus of $3.51 billion.

In March, foreign investors acquired $17.9 billion worth of Canadian debt securities, the data showed. That included mostly government bonds worth $10.7 billion and private corporate bonds worth $6.9 billion.

Meanwhile, foreign investors divested $3.5 billion of Canadian equity securities, which were mostly comprised of banking sector shares and shares of trade and transportation companies.

The USD/CAD currency pair settled 0.06% lower at 1.3610 on Friday. For the week, the major currency pair edged down 0.44%, as it extended the loss from the prior week.

The Forex pair settled not far from a recent one-month low of 1.3588.