State Street Global Markets strategist Marija Veitmane noted that the custodial database showed that institutional investors increased their risk exposure to their portfolios in June, but at the same time significantly reduced their holdings of U.S. Treasuries and U.S. dollar assets. This is particularly striking because investor holdings in these two asset classes are already at their lowest levels in years. She also noted that investors continue to question the traditional safe-haven status of these two assets. Neither the sell-off of Quarter 1 U.S. stocks, growing fiscal sustainability concerns in the second quarter, nor the recent outbreak of conflict in the Middle East has triggered a buying frenzy for the U.S. dollar or U.S. Treasuries. This trend of selling U.S. Treasuries contrasts sharply with the increase in holdings of Japanese and European bonds.