Nonresident investors became net sellers of Japanese stocks for the first time in 14 months in May, with sales exceeding purchases by 52.6 billion yen on a contract basis, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
Nonresident investors actively sold Japanese stocks during the first half of May, when investor fears over rising interest rates hit stock markets globally. They sold a net 260.5 billion yen worth of Japanese stocks in the three trading days of May 6, 7 and 10.
Late in the month, nonresident investors turned net buyers as the Tokyo market recovered on an upbeat outlook for the Japanese economy, with their purchases exceeding sales by 252.1 billion yen in the May 21-31 period.
Nonresident investors were net buyers of Japanese bonds during the entire month, buying 934.6 billion yen more than they sold.
As a result, they were net buyers of Japanese securities overall by a margin of 882 billion yen in May.
The ministry said Japanese investors during the reporting month were net buyers of foreign stocks and bonds, with buying exceeding selling by 244.3 billion yen in stocks and 1.718 trillion yen in bonds.