NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - International investors bought a net of $143.4 billion in U.S. securities in September, the biggest capital inflow in nearly three years, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday.
The spike in demand for U.S. securities, which includes short-term instruments such as Treasury bills, came as world credit markets seized up and U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers failed. The inflow was enough to cover September's $56.47 billion trade deficit.
The Treasury also revised upward August's net inflow to $21.4 billion from an initially reported $400 million outflow.
Demand for long-maturity securities such as bonds, notes and equities rose to $66.2 billion, compared with an upwardly revised $21 billion in August. (Reporting by Steven C. Johnson; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)