Capital flows into the United States hit a record high of $101.9 billion in September as private investors bought large amounts of U.S. securities. The rise was unexpected. Some analysts were forecasting the number would drop after rising steadily for the past five months. Net foreign purchases of long-term domestic securities were $118.1 billion, $4.3 billion of which were net purchases by foreign official institutions and $113.8 billion of which were net purchases by private investors. U.S. residents, meanwhile, bought a net $16.2 billion in foreign-issued securities.