OTTAWA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Canadian investors significantly reduced their foreign security holdings in July, driven by a record monthly sell-off of U.S. shares and a sixth consecutive month of divestment from U.S. government bonds, Statistics Canada said Thursday.
Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by 30.6 billion Canadian dollars (about 21.9 billion U.S. dollars) in July, according to the national statistical agency.
Specifically, investors sold a record 31 billion Canadian dollars' worth of U.S. shares during the month, with most of the divestment involving large-cap U.S. technology companies, said the agency.
Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of U.S. government bonds by 5.1 billion Canadian dollars in July, it said.
In July, U.S. share prices edged lower following strong gains earlier in the year, while long-term U.S. interest rates ticked up and the U.S. dollar depreciated against the Canadian dollar, Statistics Canada said. (1 Canadian dollar = 0.71 U.S. dollar) ■