Foreign investors continued buying into the Canadian natural resources sector in February, purchasing $4.7 billion worth of equities during the month.

Statistics Canada said foreign acquisitions of shares of Canadian natural resource firms dominated during the month, with U.S. investors accounting for $3.7 billion worth of the purchases.

The value of Canadian equities purchased by foreigners in the first two months of 2006 has already surpassed the total for all of 2005, StatsCan said today.

The strong interest in Canadian resource stocks comes as prices for oil, natural gas, copper, gold and other commodities continue to reach high prices.

Foreign holdings of Canadian bonds fell by $3 billion in February, marking the third consecutive month of foreign divestment in these instruments. The decline was mostly due to retirements of provincial government and corporate bonds.

Canadian holdings of foreign securities grew for the 13th consecutive month in February, with a net increase of $2.7 billion. Over the month, Canadians bought $1.2 billion in foreign stocks.