Foreign Investors Buy ¥733 Billion of Japanese Bonds in Weekly Shift

Foreign investors turned sizeable net buyers of Japanese securities in the week to 8 Aug, according to Ministry of Finance data released Thursday. Purchases of Japanese bonds swung to a ¥733.2 billion inflow from a ¥87.5 billion outflow the previous week, while net buying of Japanese equities rose to ¥489.3 billion from ¥193.0 billion. Japanese investors also stepped up purchases of overseas debt, recording a ¥254.9 billion net inflow after having sold ¥526.3 billion the week before. They continued to pare holdings of foreign equities, though the net sale narrowed to ¥225.5 billion from ¥752.1 billion. The data suggest a broad return of risk appetite toward Japanese assets as well as renewed demand by domestic investors for higher-yielding foreign bonds, offering a snapshot of capital flows ahead of the Bank of Japan’s next policy meeting.