They snapped up ¥1.51 trillion (US$10.12 billion) worth of long-term foreign bonds in their largest weekly net purchase in three weeks, data from Japan’s finance ministry showed.

The yen has strengthened approximately 4% this year, buoyed by expectations that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will continue to hike interest rates amid robust inflation data and remarks from BOJ officials.

Meanwhile, Japanese investors pumped ¥626.9 billion into foreign equities last week, the biggest amount since Aug 24.

On the other hand, Japanese stocks suffered outflows worth ¥708.3 billion in their fifth consecutive week of net sales in the week ended March 1, driven by a sell-off in technology stocks.

Investors were also worried about the outlook for Japanese exports amid a stronger yen, the US economy and US president Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

Japanese stocks lost about ¥2.8 trillion worth of foreign funds during these five weeks, compared with a net ¥7.15 trillion in outflows during a six-week-long selling streak in the quarter ended September 2024.

The Nikkei share average broke below its 200-day exponential moving average last week and hit a five and a half month low of 36816.16 on Tuesday.

Foreigners, however, bought a net ¥776.5 billion worth of long-term Japanese bonds, logging their sixth weekly net purchase in seven weeks.

They sold about ¥730.2 billion worth of short-term bills.