Foreign investors for a second straight month sold down holdings of Canadian securities in March, even as Canadian investors were targeting U.S. bonds.

Nonresident investors sold a net 4.23 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of $3.03 billion, in Canadian securities for the month, Statistics Canada said Friday.

At the same time, Canadian investment in foreign securities rose for a second month running with C$15.63 billion added to portfolios in March, the data agency said.

That resulted in international transactions generating a net outflow of funds from the Canadian economy of C$19.86 billion in March, bringing the total outflow for the quarter to C$45.89 billion.

The monthly international-securities report covers a portfolio of transactions in equity and investment fund shares, bonds and money-market instruments for both Canadian and foreign issues. The activity excludes transactions in equity and debt instruments between affiliated enterprises.

The data show foreign investors reduced their exposure to Canadian shares by C$12.04 billion in March, adding to C$21.93 billion in shares sold the month before. The selling was driven by exits from banking, trade and transportation, and energy and mining stocks.

Nonresidents the same month bought C$11.88 billion in Canadian bonds, while selling C$4.06 billion of Canadian money-market instruments.

Source: Marketscreener