The balance of shares bought on credit -- a sensitive indicator of investor sentiment -- turned lower last week for the first time in five weeks.

The combined outstanding balance of long margin positions on the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya bourses stood at 1.73 trillion yen at the end of the week, down 19.49 billion yen from a week earlier, according to a weekly industry report.

In terms of volume, the balance stood at 2.32 billion shares, down 19.49 million shares -- the first fall in six weeks.

Much of the recent uptrend in share prices lost steam, hurting investor sentiment.

With the downtrend continuing unabated, the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average dropped below the 13,000 level in intraday trading repeatedly last week, a development unseen since Oct. 9, 1998.

Individual investors opted for steel and other low- and medium-priced issues that had long been neglected, brokerage officials said.

The balance of shares sold short, on the other hand, stood at 758.91 billion yen, down 49.83 billion yen -- the second consecutive weekly decline.

The correction of share prices prompted short-sellers to unwind their positions and take profits.

The long-short ratio rose to 2.27 from the preceding week's 2.16 in value but fell to 2.84 from 2.93 in volume.