Net foreign buys of U.S. assets $65.9 bln in Dec. (by Greg Robb)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Foreign investors bought a net $65.9 billion of long-term U.S. assets in December down from $85.1 billion in November, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. International demand for Treasurys decelerated to an increase of $54.7 billion in December from a gain of $61.7 billion in the prior month. Foreign central bank purchases of Treasurys, corporate bonds and equities increased $10.5 billion in December, down slightly from $12.0 billion in the previous month. Including short-term securities and bank lending data, foreigners purchased a net $48.2 billion of U.S. assets compared with net purchases of $35.6 billion a month earlier. According to the data, Mainland China decreased its Treasury holdings for the second consecutive month in December, while Japan and the United Kingdom increased their holdings.