Foreign Investors Are Pouring Record Amounts Into U.S. Stocks. The Figure Topped $400 Billion.

Foreign investors poured a record $425.6 billion into U.S. stocks and investment fund shares during the second quarter, a dramatic increase from the first three months of the year and the largest quarterly inflow in data stretching back to 1999.

The figure, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, was up from $23.3 billion in the first quarter and $262.6 billion during the same period a year earlier. Foreign purchases also surpassed the previous recent quarterly highs of $273.9 billion in the final three months of 2025 and $298.5 billion in the second quarter of 2022.

The increase in stock purchases was part of a much broader flow of foreign capital into the United States. Foreign investors increased their U.S. liabilities, which measure investments by non-U.S. residents in American assets, by $978.9 billion during the second quarter, according to the BEA.

Portfolio investment accounted for $613.4 billion of that total. Within that category, equity and investment fund purchases made up $425.6 billion, while investments in debt securities totaled $187.8 billion. Foreign direct investment liabilities rose by another $187.3 billion, while other investment liabilities, including deposits and loans, increased by $178.1 billion.

The scale of the equity inflow stands out against the recent history of foreign stock purchases. The BEA series shows substantial swings in overseas demand for U.S. equities over the past several years. Foreign investors recorded net sales of $319.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, followed by purchases of nearly $298.5 billion in the second quarter of 2022. Buying climbed again through parts of 2024 and 2025 before falling sharply to $23.3 billion in the first quarter of this year.

The latest figures also coincide with a rise in the overall value of foreign-owned assets in the United States. U.S. liabilities to foreign residents increased by $4.87 trillion during the second quarter to $69.39 trillion, with the BEA saying the change reflected both financial transactions and higher asset prices.

Price changes accounted for about $3.95 trillion of the increase, while financial transactions contributed $978.9 billion. Portfolio investment was the largest investment category behind the rise in liabilities. U.S. assets held abroad, meanwhile, totaled $46.97 trillion at the end of the quarter. That left the U.S. net international investment position at negative $22.42 trillion, compared with negative $21.27 trillion at the end of the first quarter.

Separate monthly figures from the U.S. Treasury Department show foreign money continuing to move through U.S. financial markets after the second quarter ended, although the composition shifted.

Foreign residents made $40.6 billion in net purchases of long-term U.S. securities in July, while total Treasury International Capital flows produced a net inflow of $83.7 billion. Foreign residents also increased their holdings of Treasury bills by $38.8 billion during the month. After adjustments including estimated stock acquisitions through cross-border stock swaps, however, Treasury estimated net foreign sales of long-term securities at $27.9 billion.

Treasury cautions that its monthly securities data are largely based on custodial records and cannot always identify the ultimate country that owns a U.S. security. Securities purchased by one country's investors, for example, may be held through a custodian in another jurisdiction.

Interest rates have also moved higher in recent weeks. The Federal Reserve on Sept. 16 raised its benchmark federal funds target range by a quarter percentage point to 3.75% to 4%, its first rate increase of 2026. The central bank had held the range at 3.5% to 3.75% at its June and July meetings.

The second-quarter investment data cover a period before that September rate increase and therefore do not reflect foreign investors' response to the Fed's latest decision.

The BEA figures nevertheless show that foreign demand for U.S. financial assets remained substantial during the April-to-June period. Equity and investment fund purchases alone represented more than 43% of the $978.9 billion increase in U.S. liabilities to foreign residents during the quarter.

They also marked an abrupt reversal from the first quarter, when foreign equity and fund purchases totaled only $23.3 billion. At $425.6 billion, second-quarter buying was more than 18 times that amount and the highest quarterly figure in the BEA series dating back to 1999.