US money market funds reduce A$ assets
Improving sentiment towards banks in the core of the eurozone during July saw US money market funds reduce their holdings of short-term debt from Australian banks.A report by Credit Suisse (sourced, in turn, from Crane Data) shows that the funds cut their holdings of Australian bank debt by US$5 billion. Canadian banks (another "safe haven") experienced an outflow of funds.Banks in France and Germany received inflows in the order of US$20 billion during the month from US money market funds.Other banking markets favoured by the funds during July were the UK, Japan, Norway and Sweden.Credit Suisse, which slanted its analysis towards European issues, noted that the funds' loans to banks in France were "very short-dated", roughly a week on average, while German banks enjoyed slightly longer tenure.