Foreign Investors Extend Japan Stock Buying: ¥517.2bn Net in July Week 2, Up 41% — Who's on the Other Side?A · FULL TRANSLATION
- TSE Prime foreigners net bought ¥517.2bn in July week 2 (Jul 6-10), vs ¥366.6bn prior week — second straight week, +41%
- Foreigners accounted for 65.4% of brokerage turnover (65.9% of purchases); they set the market's direction
- Counterparties: investment trusts sold a record ¥626.3bn net, individuals ¥101.2bn net; trust banks (+¥228.7bn) and business corporations (+¥82.1bn) also bought
- About 85% of individuals' trading value went through margin accounts; retail selling shrank sharply from ¥637.5bn the week before
- Weekly Prime turnover (buys+sells) was ¥116.1tn; data published every fourth business day by JPX
JPX's weekly trading-by-investor-type data is the cleanest official answer to who is buying and selling Japanese stocks. For July week 2 (Jul 6-10), TSE Prime foreigners bought a net ¥517.2bn, up 41% from ¥366.6bn the prior week — two straight weeks on the buy side, with foreigners accounting for 65.4% of brokerage turnover. The sellers: investment trusts dumped a record ¥626.3bn net (the largest weekly net sale on record — see companion piece) and individuals sold ¥101.2bn net, while trust banks (+¥228.7bn, commonly read as pension-money flows) and business corporations (+¥82.1bn, closely tied to share buyback execution) joined the bid. Individuals' turnover remains roughly 85% margin trading, underscoring retail Japan's leveraged, contrarian trading style — they sold into strength at a much slower pace than the prior week's ¥637.5bn. Weekly Prime turnover (buys plus sells) totaled ¥116.1tn. The structure — foreign-led demand supplied by domestic retail and funds — has been the standard script of every Japan rally since 2024; this report is the rear-view mirror that confirms it.
