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Foreign investors piled back into Canadian securities in May, after two months of divestment, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

The national statistical agency reported that offshore investors acquired $10.2 billion worth of Canadian securities in May.

While foreign investors continued divesting Canadian equities, they added $12.9 billion worth of bonds during the month, StatsCan reported.

Federal government bonds were the primary recipient of foreign investment, as investors added $8.8 billion worth of these securities.

At the same time, foreign investors dumped $4.6 billion worth of equities during the month. This marked the third straight month of divestment from Canadian stocks, StatsCan noted.

Conversely, Canadian investors bought $4.1 billion worth of foreign securities in May. They also bought bonds and sold equities.

Domestic investors added $6.0 billion of foreign debt to their portfolios during the month, and sold $1.9 billion worth of foreign equities.

Overall, international securities transactions generated a net inflow of $6.1 billion to the Canadian economy in May, StatsCan said, pushing the total for the first five months of the year to $34.2 billion.