Figure 7 shows the cumulative weekly trading trends in cash equities and futures by type of investors in 2024. Foreign investors were net buyers during the first half of 2024, but selling dominated from June onward, resulting in five consecutive months of net selling through October. Notably, during the three months from July to September, foreign investors recorded a significant net sale of approximately 6 trillion yen. In July, the Bank of Japan decided to raise the policy interest rate by 0.25%, and in early August, concerns over a U.S. recession surged rapidly following the release of U.S. economic indicators. This triggered a risk-averse move, leading to accelerated selling of Japanese stocks by foreign investors. Although this rapid risk-off sentiment temporarily subsided, foreign investors continued selling, likely due to uncertainty surrounding the direction of monetary policy in Japan and the U.S., as well as domestic political events in Japan, including the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in September and the general election for Japan’s House of Representatives in October.
On the other hand, business corporations, reflecting corporate share buybacks, were net buyers throughout the year. The total amount of share buyback programs announced by listed companies (TOPIX constituents) in 2024 reached 17 trillion yen. On a weekly basis, business corporations were net sellers in only five of the 53 weeks in 2024. Efforts to improve capital efficiency and shareholder returns have continued, and the net buying by business corporations, driven by share buybacks, is expected to persist moving forward.
