(Reuters) – Japanese stocks witnessed a sharp outflow of foreign funds in the week to July 19, driven by a global selloff in technology shares and worries about the outlook for local exporters after a rally in the yen.
According to exchange data, foreign investors offloaded Japanese stocks worth a net 819.6 billion yen ($5.38 billion) during the week, their largest weekly net selling since April 19.
Foreign investors offloaded approximately 245.95 billion yen in cash equities, halting a three-week buying streak. Additionally, they divested around 573.65 billion yen in derivative contracts.
The Nikkei share average fell by 2.74% last week, marking its steepest decline since April 19.
The Nikkei plummeted further to a nearly two-month low of 37825.58 on Thursday, tracking a selloff in mega-cap technology stocks and a rally in the yen which surged to around 152.2 per dollar, the highest level in 2-1/2 months.
Foreigners also continued to pull out of Japanese bonds for a sixth successive week as they sold about 352.1 billion yen worth of long-term and 455.7 billion yen worth of short-term debt securities.
Meanwhile, Japanese investors shed 730.4 billion yen worth of long-term overseas bonds, staying net sellers for a second successive week. They, however, purchased about 50.7 billion yen worth of short-term instruments.
In the foreign equities market, Japanese investors purchased a net 12.1 billion yen worth of stocks following three weeks of net selling in a row.
($1 = 152.2200 yen)
(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
