Foreign Investors Buy Japanese Stocks for Eighth Straight Week on AI Momentum
Overview of Recent Foreign Investment Trends in Japan
May 28 (Reuters) - Foreign investors bought Japanese stocks for the eighth straight week through May 23, as oil prices eased and AI-related shares rallied on robust demand outlook.
Foreign Investment in Japanese Stocks
Foreigners invested a net 1.08 trillion yen ($6.77 billion) in Japanese stocks in the week ended May 23, a near 14% rise from 948.4 billion yen of net purchases the prior week, data from the Ministry of Finance showed on Thursday.
AI and Technology Sector Driving Growth
The tech sector attracted investments as Nvidia forecast blockbuster demand for its flagship AI chips last week.
Key AI-Related Stock Performances
AI investor SoftBank Group surged 17.62% last week, while chip designer Socionext rallied 12.26%.
Year-to-Date Foreign Investment Comparison
Foreigners have so far pumped nearly 11.7 trillion yen into Japanese stocks this year, compared with roughly 742.1 billion yen of net purchase in the same period last year.
Foreign Investment in Japanese Bonds
Japanese long-term bonds saw a net purchase of 1.35 trillion yen after outflows of 1.03 trillion in the prior week, as a bond selloff eased and higher yields attracted investors.
Foreigners, however, divested 2.22 trillion yen of short-term instruments, the most since March 28.
Japanese Investment in Foreign Assets
Elsewhere, Japanese investors withdrew a net 358.7 billion yen from foreign equities, marking their third weekly net sale in four.
They, however, invested a marginal 10.3 billion yen in long-term foreign bonds, extending buying to a fourth straight week.
($1 = 159.5300 yen)
(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
