Foreign demand for US assets rises in Dec-Treasury

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Overseas demand for long-term U.S. assets grew in December as foreigners continued to buy both government debt and equities, the U.S. Treasury said on Friday.

Foreigners poured a net $64.2 billion into long-term U.S. securities in December, the most in four months, after buying a slightly revised $52.4 billion the prior month.

Purchases of U.S. Treasury debt rose to $29.9 billion from $26.4 billion. Private investors were the most active buyers, though China, the largest foreign U.S. creditor, also raised its Treasury holdings by $19.7 billion to $1.203 trillion.

Foreigners' U.S. equity purchases totaled $25.9 billion, compared to $21.5 billion in November.

Including short-dated assets such as bills, overseas demand totaled $25.2 billion in December, compared with an upwardly revised $29.7 billion the prior month.

(Reporting by Steven C. Johnson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)