Treasury Secretary Bessent dismisses European sell-off fears, citing record foreign investment in US assets

Feb 4, 2026, 5:44:38 PM UTC(6 hours ago)

Impact: Medium

Affected Assets

The statement was made by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in response to concerns over a potential European sell-off of US Treasuries.
Bessent specifically dismissed the Danish pension fund's plan to sell $100 million in Treasuries, calling Denmark's investment "irrelevant" due to its small size relative to the overall market.
The sell-off fears were initially sparked by a Deutsche Bank analyst's note suggesting the US reliance on foreign funding was a key weakness, especially amid political tensions over Greenland.
Bessent claimed the Deutsche Bank CEO called him to state the German lender does not stand by the analyst's report, which was amplified by "fake news media."
European investors collectively hold approximately $10 trillion in US assets, including about $6 trillion in US equities and $4 trillion in Treasuries and other bonds, making the overall flow critical to US markets.

BESSENT: WE ARE STILL SEEING VERY GOOD FLOW OF FOREIGN FUNDS INTO U.S. TREASURIES AND MASSIVE FLOW INTO U.S. EQUITIES