Foreign investors were net buyers of Japanese stocks for the 12th consecutive week, according to data released Thursday from Tokyo Stock Exchange operator the Japan Exchange Group.

But their net buying fell to the lowest in the past 12 weeks while separate data, released earlier in the day from the Finance Ministry, showed foreign investors became net sellers for the first time since March, suggesting their appetite may be waning.

The Finance Ministry's data is based on reporting from major market players and covers not just stocks but also exchange traded funds and over-the-counter trades.

According to the exchange data, foreign investors bought ¥88.4 billion ($614 million) of Japanese equities in the week that ended on June 20.

The continued buying has echoes of the April-June quarter in 2023, when Warren Buffett’s investment in trading houses and hopes of corporate governance reforms impelled foreign investors to pile into Japanese stocks.

The size of their buying was smaller this time. During the second quarter of 2023, foreign investors bought ¥6.1 trillion, dwarfing the net total buying since April of ¥4.1 trillion.

The latest inflows may have been driven by global investors who are rotating out of U.S. stocks that have become expensive, experts say.

"It’s not like Japanese earnings were strong or investors were getting (more) positive about Japan,” said Hiroshi Matsumoto, senior client portfolio manager at Pictet Asset Management Japan.

"The market has risen even as the earnings aren’t that strong. So the market’s valuation has become a bit rich,” he said.

Data from the Finance Ministry shows foreign investors sold a net ¥524.3 billion of shares in the period that ended on June 20.