(Reuters) -Foreigners channelled investments into Japanese stocks for a third consecutive week ended October 18 in anticipation of a victory for fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi at the parliamentary vote to become the country’s first female prime minister.
Foreigners snapped up Japanese stocks worth a net 752.6 billion yen ($4.99 billion) during the week, adding to 1.87 trillion yen weekly net purchase the prior week, data from Japan’s Ministry of Finance showed.
The Nikkei 225 index hit a record high of 49,945.95 on Tuesday as Takaichi, a hardline conservative, was elected the prime minister on Tuesday, bolstering expectations of Japan’s return to Abe-style government stimulus to jumpstart an economy struggling with slow growth and rising prices.
Foreigners have so far pumped about 5.28 trillion yen into Japanese stocks so far this year, more than a twofold increase from an approximately 2.12 trillion yen net purchase in the year-ago period.
Foreigners, meanwhile, pulled out a marginal 700 million yen from Japanese long-term bonds in their first weekly net sales since September 27. Japanese short-term bills, however, drew nearly 1.63 trillion yen worth of foreign inflows.
At the same time, Japanese investors divested foreign stocks of a net 288.1 billion yen, logging their fourth weekly net sales in five weeks.
They also shed foreign long-term bonds of 669.7 billion yen, registering a third weekly net disposal in four weeks.
($1 = 150.7800 yen)
(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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