China Suddenly Buys TSYs Amid March US Banking Crisis, Gold Reserves Hit Record High

China bought more US Treasuries in March (US banking crisis) than it had since January 2021, adding $20 billion (the first buying month since July 2022)…

Source: Bloomberg

That is a bounce from its lowest levels since June 2010.

China’s proxies were also buyers in March as the SVB collapse saw safe-haven demand soar…

Source: Bloomberg

UAE, Germany, and Iraq were the biggest sellers.

In aggregate, Treasuries were bought (but at a slower pace) and stock holding soared…

Foreign buying of Treasuries increased by $35.8BN, down from $57.6BN, 11th straight month of foreign TSY buying.

Breaking that Treasury buying down we see that after 12 months of selling by foreign official institutions, Feb and March saw buying, $48.0BN and $16.5BN respectively.

Meanwhile, foreign private buying of Treasuries is relentless, and extends to 17 consecutive months, with $19.3BN bought in March, after $9.6BN bought in Feb.

So of the $35.8BN buying in total TSYs, $16.5BN was foreign official, and $19.3BN was foreign private

Foreign buying of Agencies increased by $16.8BN, up from $14.2BN; there hasnt been a foreign sale here since March 2017.

Foreign buying of Corporate bonds increased by $21.8BN, the most since April 22 ($22.4BN), and non-stop buying in the series since Dec 21.

Foreign buying of stocks soared by $36.1BN, a reversal after two months of sales and the biggest foreign buying since Dec 22.

Finally, the trend of de-dollarization continues with global gold reserves hitting a new record high according to The IMF…

Source: Bloomberg

Treasury holdings did also rebound strongly in the last period (after plunging) as the SVB banking crisis rippled across the world.