Nonresident investors remained net buyers of Japanese stocks for the fifth straight year in 2013, with the value of their net purchases rising to a record 15 trillion yen, data released by the Tokyo Stock Exchange showed Tuesday.
Net purchases by nonresidents through the Tokyo and Nagoya stock exchanges totaled 15.12 trillion yen, far surpassing the previous annual record of 10.32 trillion yen in 2005.
The data showed that foreign investors played a major role in driving Japanese stocks higher in 2013, when the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average soared 57 percent, its biggest annual gain since 1972.
Individual Japanese investors were net sellers for a second consecutive year, unloading a record 8.75 trillion yen of Japanese stocks during the reporting year.
The Nikkei Stock index surged nearly 6,000 points over the year to end 2013 at 16,291.31, its highest in six years and two months, powered by aggressive fiscal stimulus by the Japanese government and monetary easing by the Bank of Japan.
