Foreigners turn net buyers of Japanese stocks

Foreign investors turned net buyers of Japanese equities last week as local shares tracked the rally in US stocks, shrugging off fears related to the coronavirus outbreak in China. They purchased a net 791.7 billion yen ($7.21 billion) of Japanese stocks, including cash equities and futures, in the week ended Feb. 7, the highest since mid October 2019, according to data from Japanese stock exchanges.

Investors bought a net 509.7 billion yen worth of derivatives, and about 282 billion yen in cash markets, the data showed. The flows into Japanese stocks were also bolstered after China announced a cut in tariffs on some imports from the United States, injected hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system and unveiled other policy measures to restore investor confidence in the wake of the virus outbreak.

The Topix index gained 2.83% last week to mark its best week since Sept. 13, 2019. The Nikkei index surged 2.68%, the highest in eight weeks. Both indexes have dropped this week, as Japan suffered its first coronavirus death and on confirmation of new cases of infection in the country.