Foreigners were net buyers of Japanese stocks for the first time in three weeks in the week ended on Feb. 15, as investors grew more hopeful of progress in Sino-US trade talks. Overseas investors bought a net 269.8 billion yen ($2.44 billion) worth of Japanese stocks, including cash equities and futures in the last week, data from Japanese stocks exchanges showed.
Foreigners bought 335.3 billion yen in derivative markets, and sold 65.5 billion yen in cash markets, the data showed. Last week, Japan's Nikkei index gained 2.8 pct and the Topix index gained about 2.5 pct, both marking their biggest weekly gain in five weeks.
The yen hit a 7-week low of 111.12 against the dollar last week, favouring stocks of exporters such as Advantest Corp Panasonic Corp and Hitachi Ltd. This week, Japan's major stock indexes have risen up 2 percent each on improving sentiment that a Sino-US deal is with in reach.
Reuters reported that the United States and China have started to outline commitments in principle to resolve the stickiest issues in their trade dispute. Japanese investors sold 59.1 billion yen worth of overseas equities last week, for a sixth straight week of net selling, data from the Ministry of Finance showed.