Foreign demand for U.S. assets up in January (by Greg Robb)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Foreign investors were buyers in January of a net $94.7 billion of long-term U.S. securities, Treasury Department data released Thursday showed. This is much stronger than the revised $19.4 billion of net sales in December. Overseas investors were net buyers of $83 billion of Treasurys in January up from net sales of $14.9 billion in December. They bought a net $9.6 billion of government agency bonds in December compared with $27.2 billion in December. International demand for corporate bonds remained weak. Foreigners were net sellers of $1.3 billion of U.S. corporate bonds in January after net sales of $20.7 billion in the previous month. Foreign-based investors purchased a net $3.4 billion of U.S. equities in January. Taking into account purchases by U.S. residents and overseas investors, the net foreign purchases of long-term securities was $101.0 billion in January, up from $19.1 billion in December. According to the data, China-based investors increased their holdings of U.S. Treasurys for the first time since last July. Investors in Japan, major oil exporters and the United Kingdom also increased their holdings of Treasurys.