Bearish bets on Japanese stocks have surged to a record level because foreign investors are increasingly skeptical that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will succeed in reviving the economy, according to financial services company Reorient Group Ltd.
Short-selling of shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange accounted for 37.8 percent of trading value Tuesday, the highest ratio since the bourse began keeping daily records in 2008.
Investors pulled $245 million out of the biggest U.S.-listed exchange-traded fund tracking Japanese shares on Monday, the second-largest outflow since May 2013, data compiled by Bloomberg show.