Net Foreign Purchases for January decreased to $51.5 billion, following a December decrease of $65.9 billion from $85.1 billion in November. Foreign purchases of US securities came in at net $32.5 billion compared with net buying of $49.7 billion the previous month. China, the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, saw its portfolio fall by $5.4 billion to $1.15 trillion in January while Japan, the second-largest holder, increased its holdings by $3.6 billion to $885.9 billion.
The FOMC Policy Statement will be released today at 2:15 PM EST, which will conclude the 2 day meeting of the Board of Governors. The topic for discussion is the Fed’s Beige Book, which indicated that economic conditions had continued to expand moderately in January and early February. Boston and Philadelphia cited conditions as improving. New York, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, and St. Louis described activity as modestly improving, while Minneapolis and Dallas experienced moderate growth. Chicago reported that although there was an increase in activity, it was at a pace not quite as strong as during the previous reporting period. All Districts, except St. Louis, experienced solid growth in manufacturing production. Residential real estate markets remained weak across all districts while commercial construction showed signs of a recovery. In the last policy statement released on January 26, the FOMC had decided to maintain the federal funds target rate within a range of 0 to 0.25%.
Upcoming Releases
FOMC Policy Statement (03/15 at 2:15 PM EST)
PPI (03/16 at 8:30 AM EST)
Housing Starts (03/16 at 8:30 AM EST)
Crude Inventories (03/16 at 10:30 AM EST)
