Foreign investors remained net buyers of Japanese stocks for the ninth straight week last week, although their buying excess visibly narrowed.
Nonresidents bought 68.7 billion yen more than they sold, down from 300.8 billion yen the previous week, according to a weekly industry report.
They apparently opted to wait for a weekend announcement regarding a component reshuffle in the world stock index of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc., which is widely used by global portfolio managers, brokerage officials said.
MSCI said May 19 that it will reduce the weighting on Japanese stocks in its revised global index by 1.6 points.
Among domestic players, long-term credit banks, city banks and regional banks remained net sellers for the eighth consecutive week, with their net selling at 50.5 billion yen, compared with 67 billion yen the previous week.
Net purchases by investment trust funds rose from 9.3 billion yen to 31.8 billion yen, topping the 30 billion yen level for the first time in six weeks.