Foreign purchases of long-term US securities slow to $40.6 billion in July from $208.9 billion in June

Foreign investors bought a net $40.6 billion of long-term US securities in July 2026, far below the $208.9 billion of June, according to the Treasury International Capital (TIC) data the Treasury Department released on 16 September. Including short-term securities and bank flows, the net TIC inflow was $83.7 billion, of which private investors accounted for $73.5 billion and official investors for $10.2 billion.

Long-term securities: official buyers, private sellers

• Net foreign purchases of long-term US securities: $40.6 billion (June: $208.9 billion; May: $262.8 billion; April: $207.4 billion)
• Private foreign investors: net sales of $3.7 billion, after net purchases of $171.3 billion in June
• Foreign official institutions: net purchases of $44.4 billion
• US residents bought a net $68.5 billion of long-term foreign securities

Inside the private total, foreign investors were net sellers of $29.1 billion of Treasury bonds and notes and $10.6 billion of US equities, and net buyers of $20.5 billion of corporate bonds and $15.5 billion of agency bonds. After adjustments such as stock swaps, Treasury estimates overall net foreign sales of long-term securities at $27.9 billion in July.

Short-term securities and banks

Foreign residents added $38.8 billion of Treasury bills in July. Their holdings of all dollar-denominated short-term US securities and other custody liabilities rose by $65.0 billion, and banks' own net dollar-denominated liabilities to foreign residents rose by $46.6 billion. Those figures are what turn a weak month for long-term securities into an overall inflow.

How to read TIC data

The figures are not seasonally adjusted and swing widely from month to month, so one report says little. Treasury's own caveat matters too: the data come mainly from custodians, and "they cannot attribute holdings of U.S. securities with complete accuracy". A Treasury bought by a foreign resident but held in a custodial account in a third country, for instance, will not show up under the buyer's country. It is therefore difficult to draw precise conclusions about individual countries' holdings.

Why currency traders follow it

TIC is the closest official gauge of how much foreign money is moving into or out of dollar assets, and a steady inflow is one of the things that helps fund the US current account deficit (trade balance and current account explained). It is not a record of currency purchases, though, and monthly swings rarely translate into a clear dollar move. The Bank for International Settlements described the dollar's recent path, and the Treasury's expanded buyback plan, in its latest quarterly review (report). For a wider view of the dollar, see the US Dollar Index explained.

What comes next

The report for August is scheduled for 16 October 2026. The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes the second-quarter current account on 24 September.