Foreigners big buyers of Japanese bonds ahead of BOJ decision
FILE PHOTO: A woman is reflected on an electric board displaying Japan’s long-term government bonds level and Japanese Yen rate against U.S. dollar and other currencies outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan January 16, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/FILE PHOT
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(Reuters) – Foreign investors continued to accumulate Japanese bonds for the third straight week ahead of a pivotal move by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to exit negative interest rates after 17 years. They pumped in a massive 2.16 trillion yen ($14.26 billion) into long-term Japanese bonds on a net basis last week, the biggest amount in a week since mid-March 2023, data from the Ministry of Finance showed.
Japanese short-term debt securities, meanwhile, witnessed about 1.16 trillion yen of foreign outflows, the first weekly net outgo in three weeks.
In a widely expected decision, the BOJ ditched its negative rate policy on Tuesday with its first interest rate hike in 17 years and ushered in a new era of monetary policy.
The 10-year JGB yield has, meanwhile, shed about 4.3 basis points so far this week amid the BOJs’ bond buying as part of its money market operations and its unscheduled 3 trillion yen worth of bond repurchases.
Simultaneously, foreign investors offloaded approximately 674.22 billion yen in Japanese stocks last week — the largest weekly divestment since Oct. 6, 2023—according to exchange data.
Despite a 2.47% drop in the Nikkei share average last week, it rebounded sharply, rising 5.6%, and reached a record peak of 41,087.75 on Friday. Foreigners sold derivatives and cash equities worth about 586.7 billion yen and 87.52 billion yen, respectively, on a net basis last week.
Japanese investors withdrew a net 803.9 billion yen out of long-term foreign bonds last week after two weekly net purchases in a row. They, however, purchased about 305.1 billion yen of short-term debt instruments.
Domestic investors pulled roughly 616.5 billion yen out of foreign equities as they extended net selling into a second consecutive week.
($1 = 151.4600 yen)
