Japanese investors massively sell off overseas bonds in February, the largest scale in 16 months

MarsBitNews · 2026-03-09T09:24:31+00:00

In February, Japanese investors withdrew large amounts from the overseas bond market, recording the largest single-month net sell-off in 16 months, with a net sale of 3.07 trillion yen. This was mainly due to falling U.S. bond yields and rising Japanese bond yields. At the same time, investors continued to buy foreign stocks, driven by the individual tax-free investment plan.

MarsBitNews

2026-03-09 09:24:31

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Mars Finance News: On March 9, Japanese investors massively withdrew from the overseas bond market in February, reaching a 16-month high. The decline in U.S. Treasury yields and the rebound in Japanese government bond yields made local bonds more attractive. According to the Japanese Ministry of Finance, last month Japanese investors net sold 3.07 trillion yen ($193.7 billion) of overseas bonds, the largest single-month net sell since October 2024 when they sold 6.5 trillion yen. Among these, Japanese investors sold 3.42 trillion yen worth of foreign long-term bonds, a 16-month high, while simultaneously net purchasing about 352.1 billion yen of foreign short-term bonds. In February, Japanese investors net bought 642.1 billion yen of foreign stocks for the second consecutive month. Barclays pointed out that this round of buying was mainly driven by demand related to Japan’s personal savings account (NISA). NISA is a government-initiated tax-free stock investment plan aimed at converting trillions of yen in household cash into stock market investments. Another report from the Bank of Japan shows that in January, Japanese investors net purchased 279.4 billion yen of U.S. bonds and 660.96 billion yen of European bonds.

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