Japanese investors increased bond purchases in February as yields fell overseas, but withdrew from foreign equities due to concerns about US President Donald Trump's tariff proposals and the potential impact on global growth from trade distortions.
Last month, investors purchased a net 3.45 trillion yen ($23.44 billion) worth of foreign bonds, the most since August 2024.
According to the data released by the Ministry of Finance, they sold 346.4 billion yen worth of foreign stocks.
The data indicates that banks acquired 913.6 billion yen in long-term debt, while trust accounts bought 1.51 trillion yen in long-term foreign bonds, the most in six months.
According to Barclays, a slowdown in investment trust buying was the cause of the February selloff in foreign stocks. Due to higher inflows into the recently launched Nippon Individual Savings Accounts (NISA) program, a tax-free investment plan, these had surged the month before.
Separately, statistics on foreign bond holdings from the Bank of Japan, which was also made public on Monday, revealed that domestic investors' exposure to U.S. bonds climbed significantly in January as compared to the previous month.
Also Read: 6 Successful Business Ventures of Cristiano Ronaldo
January saw investors buy 955 billion yen worth of US bonds, while December saw a net sell of 83 billion yen. German bond purchases totaled 544 billion yen in January, while net sales in December totaled 545 billion yen.