By Reuters

(Reuters) - Japanese investors turned net sellers of foreign stocks for the first time in four ‌months in April, as concerns over higher energy ‌costs from the Iran war and the risk of broader inflation prompted ​caution on overseas equities.

They divested a net 636.4 billion yen ($4.04 billion) of foreign stocks last month, logging the largest monthly net sales since October 2025, data from the Ministry ‌of Finance showed on ⁠Wednesday.

Japanese selloff in foreign bonds, however, eased to a three-month low of 219.2 billion yen ⁠in April.

U.S. consumer inflation gained at the fastest pace in three years in April as prices rose across food, ​services, rental ​and airline costs, data from ​the U.S. Labor Department ‌showed on Tuesday.

Japanese trust accounts withdrew 1.85 trillion yen from foreign stocks in the biggest monthly net pullout since June 2025, but invested to the tune of 897.3 billion yen in foreign long-term bonds.

Investment trust management companies and ‌life insurers were, however, net buyers ​of 1.25 trillion yen and ​333.1 billion yen worth ​of foreign stocks.

A separate report from the ‌Bank of Japan showed that ​Japanese investors had ​sold U.S. bonds of 4.95 trillion yen and European bonds of 1.02 trillion yen in the first quarter.

They ​had sold ‌French and German bonds of 797.66 billion yen and ​307.65 billion yen, respectively.

($1 = 157.7000 yen)

(Reporting by Gaurav ​Dogra; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

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