Foreign holdings of US Treasuries climbed to $7.655 trillion in July, up from $7.562 trillion in the previous month and rising for a second straight month, according to data released by the Treasury Department.
China’s holdings of Treasuries dropped to $821.8 billion, the lowest since May 2009, when it had $776.4 billion, showed the data.
China has been under pressure to defend its weakening currency, the yuan, and the selling of U.S. debt may have been used for intervention purposes to prop it up, said analysts.
Japan is still the largest non-US holder of Treasuries with $1.112 trillion in July, up from $1.105 trillion in June, showed the data.