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S'pore investors cut holdings in US stocks in Q3
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lg_6273
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27-Dec-2006 19:46
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Published December 27, 2006 S'pore investors cut holdings in US stocks in Q3 By CHUANG PECK MING (SINGAPORE) After a busy quarter on Wall Street in April to June, Singapore investors are now seen to have wound down trading in the following three months, dumping some US$1.91 billion worth of stocks along the way.  Investors here traded US$11.9 billion in United States corporate stocks in the third quarter, down from a revised US$13.14 billion in Q2, according to the latest figures released by the US Treasury. In a roller-coaster quarter that saw both the Dow and Nasdaq indexes making gains, the investors bought US$4.99 billion and sold US$6.89 billion worth of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), resulting in a net sale of US$1.91 billion. Earlier US Treasury estimates had Singapore investors picking up US$4.8 billion and letting go of US$5.6 billion in stocks in Q2. The revised figures show US$7.55 billion and US$5.59 billion respectively, turning the investors from net sellers to net buyers in Q2. Their net purchases amounted to US$1.96 billion. And while the figure for net sales (US$1.91 billion) in Q3 is lower than this sum, it still looks like Singapore investors will wrap up another year of net sales, continuing a three-year withdrawal from US stocks. Factor in the US$161 million in net sales in Q1, Singapore investors have cut their holdings in US stocks by another US$161 million in the first nine months of the year. But Singapore investors have added less risky US Treasury bonds to their portfolios since the start of the year. Even though they dumped a net US$1.44 billion in T-bonds in Q3, they snapped up US$1.51 billion in Q2 and US$26 million on Q1. Yet Singapore investors were less active in T-bond trading in Q3, reducing transactions by 17.9 per cent to US$23.88 billion in Q3, down from Q2. While Singapore investors continue to wind down their positions in US stocks, they remain the largest Asian players on Wall Street after the Japanese, who saw their stock transactions fell from US$23.35 billion in Q2 to US$18.21 billion in Q3. Japanese investors were also net sellers on the NYSE in Q3, getting rid of US$666 million in stocks. But they remained net buyers in the first nine months of the year, having acquired US$913 million and US$721 million in stocks for their portfolios, in Q2 and Q3 respectively. The Japanese are also still the biggest Asian bond traders in the US, increasing their dealings in T-bonds by 23.8 per cent to US$243.52 billion in Q3, up from Q2. Other big Asian investors in US stocks in Q3 were the Australians, Hong Kongers and Taiwanese. Hong Kong, whose currency is pegged to the US dollar, is also a huge trader in T-bonds, posting transactions worth US$63.13 billion in Q3. This was down 18.2 per cent from Q2. Hong Kong's net purchases of the bonds also fell from US$2.31 billion in Q2 to US$881 million in Q3. China, which has eased the peg of its yuan to the greenback, is also a big player in the US bond market. It has continued to increase its holdings of T-bonds, adding US$8.18 billion in Q3. Asia as a whole did 5.5 per cent more trading in T-bonds in Q3, increasing its transactions to US$449.26 billion. Asian investors continued to accumulate bonds, with net purchases of US$16.68 billion, against US$21.36 billion in Q2. Asian investors were less active in the NYSE in Q3, reducing their dealings in stocks by 19.3 per cent to US$67.74 billion. They were net sellers, getting rid of some US$1.28 billion of stock, after net purchases of US$6.88 billion in Q2. Worldwide investors, led by the Europeans, were less active in the US stock and bond markets in Q3. They did 1.1 per cent less trade in T-bonds and their stock transactions were down 9 per cent, according to the US Treasury. |
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