Foreign demand for U.S. assets down in February (by Greg Robb)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Foreign investors were buyers in February of a net $24.8 billion of long-term U.S. securities, Treasury Department data released Monday showed. This is down from the revised $95.7 billion of net purchases in January. Overseas investors were net buyers of $15.4 billion of Treasurys in February, down from net purchases of $84 billion in January. They bought a net $10.1 billion of government agency bonds in February compared with $9.6 billion in January. International demand for corporate bonds remained weak. Foreigners were net sellers of $8.2 billion of U.S. corporate bonds in February after net sales of $1.3 billion in the previous month. Foreign-based investors purchased a net $7.6 billion of U.S. equities in February. Taking into account purchases by U.S. residents and overseas investors, the net foreign purchases of long-term securities was $10.1 billion in February, down from $102.4 billion in January. According to the data, China-based investors increased their holdings of U.S. Treasurys for the second straight month.