Foreigners added C$13.26 billion ($13.39 billion) in Canadian securities in October, the third largest amount this year, all of it in bonds and predominantly in the corporate sector, Statistics Canada said on Monday. The investment by foreigners was down slightly from C$14.12 billion in September, upwardly revised from an early estimate of C$13.92 billion. So far this year, foreigners have acquired C$76.16 billion, up from C$74.21 billion in the same period in 2011.

Foreigners bought C$15.49 billion in bonds, led by C$8.93 billion in private corporate bonds, mainly new bonds in US dollars and placed in the United States, the federal agency said. The private corporate bond purchases were the largest since C$9.19 billion in November 2001 and were marked by significant overall net new issue activity. Foreigners dumped C$2.97 billion in money market paper and bought C$745 million in Canadian equities in October, focused on oil and gas firms.

Copyright Reuters, 2012