Foreign demand for U.S. securities surges to record

A major factor in foreign investment strategies is the price of oil, said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at the Bank of New York. Oil is sold around the world for dollars, placing vast sums of so-called petrodollars in the hands of oil producers in Saudi Arabia, Russia and Norway.

“In May, we saw a run-up in oil prices, which created additional windfall profits for Middle Eastern exporters,” Woolfolk said. The “whopping” $62 billion of purchases of U.S. securities from England probably reflected London-based brokers of Mideast oil clients.

ChicagoTribune