How Japan and China helped drive Treasury yields lower in December – and made borrowing conditions easier

The top three foreign holders of U.S. government debt —Japan, China and the U.K.— boosted their holdings in the final month of 2023, and were among the buyers that helped drive Treasury yields lower at the end of the fourth quarter.Japan boosted its holdings to $1.138 trillion last December, China increased them to $816.3 billion, and the U.K. raised its holdings to $753.7 billion, according to government data. The sum total of all net foreign acquisitions of long-term securities, sh