Japanese stocks post foreign outflows for second week in a row

Foreign investors continued to sell Japanese stocks in the week ended May 20 on fears that surging inflation would weigh on corporate profits, although data showing strong U.S. retail sales in April eased some concerns and capped outflows.

Non-native investors exited a net 206.89 billion yen ($1.63 billion) worth of Japanese stocks last week, compared with net selling of 753.19 billion yen in the previous week, data from Japanese exchanges showed.

They sold derivatives worth 240.54 billion yen but purchased 33.65 billion yen in cash equities.

However, Japanese shares gained last week, despite a weekly fall in Wall Streets' main indexes, thanks to a relatively stronger corporate outlook and a weaker yen, analysts said.

The Nikkei share average jumped 1.18% and the Topix index added 0.7% last week.

Meanwhile, overseas investors were net buyers of 740.4 billion worth of Japanese bonds, marking a third straight week of inflows, finance ministry data showed.

Japanese investors purchased overseas bonds worth a net 616.7 billion yen in a second straight week of net buying. They acquired foreign equities worth a net 326.6 billion yen, after a week of net selling. ($1 = 126.8600 yen)