Foreign investors were net buyers of Japanese stocks for the fifth consecutive week last week, while domestic business firms continued to unload their equity holdings.
Foreign investors bought 340.23 billion yen more than they sold on the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya bourses, up 78.2 billion yen from the previous week, according to a weekly industry report.
Foreign pension funds and other institutional investors increased their Japanese portfolios, banking on Japan's structural reform.
In stark contrast, domestic institutional investors remained on the sidelines, opting to cash in on profits.
Corporate investors sold 29.1 billion yen more than they bought on top of the excess selling of 5.4 billion yen the previous week. The recent share price rises prompted them to unwind their cross-shareholding ties.
Long-term trust banks, city banks and regional banks chalked up 49.7 billion yen in net selling, more than three times the previous week's selling excess of 15.2 billion yen.
Individual investors turned net sellers, with their selling excess at 205 billion yen, including margin transactions, in a turnaround from a buying excess of 1 billion yen.