Falling share prices pushed Japanese household assets down 0.1% in June

Financial assets held by Japanese households stood at ¥1.86 quadrillion ($17.2 trillion) at the end of June, down 0.1 percent from a year earlier, due largely to a drop in stock prices, the Bank of Japan said Friday.

By asset type, equities, which account for around 10 percent of overall household assets, fell 9.7 percent to ¥195 trillion while investment trusts dropped 3.7 percent to ¥70 trillion. Cash and deposits increased 1.9 percent to a record ¥991 trillion.

Debt securities climbed 3.6 percent to ¥25 trillion.

Assets held by companies, excluding financial institutions, fell 3.2 percent to ¥1.16 quadrillion, reflecting sluggish share prices.

Meanwhile, the outstanding balance of Japanese government bonds increased 3.3 percent to a record ¥1.13 quadrillion. The BOJ's holdings rose 6.2 percent from the previous year to a record ¥494 trillion, or 43.5 percent of the total.

Overseas investors held 12.8 percent of government bonds valued at a record ¥145 trillion, up 14.0 percent from a year earlier.