FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Foreign investors added to their stock of euro zone debt in June, European Central Bank data showed on Tuesday, in a tentative sign the bloc was becoming more popular at a time of financial upheaval in the United States.
The ECB has talked up the euro’s prospect as a global haven for investors as U.S. President Donald Trump’s unprecedented pressure on the Federal Reserve and erratic trade policy casts a shadow on the dollar’s own status.
Financial account data from the euro zone’s central bank showed investors from outside the bloc were warming to the single currency, which a decade ago was on the brink of collapse amid a debt crisis.
Foreign investors bought a net 59.8 billion euros ($69.82 billion) worth of euro zone debt with a maturity of at least one year in June, the ECB data showed.
The pace of buying slowed, however, from the month before, when it was the fastest since the data series started in 2013, at 97.3 billion euros.
The euro zone’s adjusted current account surplus, which covers the flows of goods, services and income, widened to 35.8 billion euros from 31.8 billion euros in June.
This was thanks to primary income, or proceeds from investment and labour, offsetting a drop in the trade surplus.
In the 12 months to June, the adjusted surplus equalled 2.0% of the bloc’s GDP, down from 2.6% in the preceding 12 months.
($1 = 0.8565 euros)
(Reporting by Francesco Canepa and Balazs Koranyi, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Christina Fincher)
