(Reuters) – Foreign investors net sold Japanese shares in the week ended Jan. 4, taking advantage of gains from 2024 while seeking to reduce risks amid an unusually long market close.
Foreigners sold a net worth of 74 billion yen ($468.30 million) of Japanese stocks during the week, following a net accumulation of approximately 562.7 billion yen in the previous week.
They acquired approximately 1.23 trillion yen worth of Japanese stocks in 2024, primarily in the first half of the year, and shed about 4.77 trillion yen worth of stocks in the second half.
The index posted a 19.22% gain last year, its second best annual performance in 11 years. However, after trading resumed on Monday, the index fell 1.15% this week as investors started to take profits after the recent rally.
Foreigners bought nearly 227.5 billion yen worth of Japanese debt last week, halting a three-week selling trend. Foreign investors snapped up long-term bonds worth 154.8 billion yen and short-term instruments worth 72.7 billion yen.
At the same time, Japanese investors added a net 325.1 billion worth of foreign stocks, marking the fourth straight weekly net purchase.
However, they retreated from foreign bonds for the third week in a row, with a net sale of 331.8 billion yen in long-term securities and a net sale of 4.9 billion yen in short-term debt securities.
($1 = 158.0200 yen)
