Foreign investors were net sellers of Japanese stocks for the second consecutive week during the third week of December.

Nonresidents sold 27.71 billion yen more than they bought, having logged net sales of 481 billion yen the previous week, the highest such figure in 19 months, according to a weekly industry report.

Foreign investors busily adjusted their overbought positions ahead of the Christmas holidays.

Their selling excess in the second week of last month more than offset their net purchases over the previous six weeks.

While other major players stayed on the sidelines, Japanese trust banks remained net buyers for the fourth week in a row, absorbing considerable net sales by foreigners as well as by Japanese banks and insurance companies.

The trust banks chalked up 179.79 billion yen in net purchases, up sharply from 78.1 billion yen the previous week.

This was their largest buying excess since the 199.5 billion yen posted in the fourth week of October.

There were indications that public pension funds had moved in search of potential gains as a broad array of shares dropped to attractive price levels, brokerage officials said.

Life and casualty insurance firms turned net sellers, selling 15.7 billion yen more than they bought, marking a turnaround from the net purchases of 8.8 billion yen that were logged the previous week.

Banks remained net sellers for the 12th consecutive week, with the nation's industrial web of cross-shareholdings continuing to unravel.

Long-term credit banks, city banks and regional banks posted a combined selling excess of 75.02 billion yen on top of the 28.1 billion yen posted the previous week.