The outstanding balance of individual financial assets held by households at the end of September rose 1.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.411 quadrillion yen for the fifth consecutive quarterly increase, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.
According to the BOJ's Flow of Funds Accounts quarterly report, the individual assets grew partly because of an increased investment in government bonds and a recent rise in share prices and trust funds.
Individual assets held in the form of stocks and equities climbed 11.1 percent from a year earlier to 113 trillion yen, while those held in investment trusts expanded 9.6 percent to 35 trillion yen, the report says.
Assets held in the form of government bonds and state-guaranteed Fiscal Investment and Loan Program bonds jumped 43.5 percent to a record 18 trillion yen.
Meanwhile, assets held in cash and deposits, which account for more than half of the financial assets held by households, totaled 777 trillion yen, growing just 0.1 percent from a year earlier.
Fixed-term deposits slipped 2.1 percent because householders have opted to invest in other financial products due to low interest rates.
The outstanding balance of foreign currency-denominated deposits posted a 3.5 percent rise after posting a double-digit increase for 10 quarters.