US holdings of foreign securities fell by 40.5 percent to $4.291 trillion in 2008 as global markets crumbled in the face of the financial crisis, a preliminary US Treasury report has showed.

The annual survey of US portfolio holdings of foreign securities, including stocks and both short-term and long-term debt, put the year-end figure for 2007 at $7.212 trillion.

US holdings of foreign equities nearly halved in 2008 to $2.748 trillion at the end of the year from $5.248 trillion at the end of 2007.

End-2008 US holdings of foreign long-term debt fell to $1.261 trillion from $1.607 trillion a year earlier, while short-term debt fell to $282 billion from $357 billion.

The figures are based on results from a survey conducted jointly by the US Treasury, the US Federal Reserve Board and the New York Federal Reserve Bank. – Reuters