A Japanese yen note is seen in this illustration photo taken June 1, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration

March 9 (Reuters) – Japanese investors in February sold the most foreign debt in a month in nearly two years on concerns over monetary tightening by the world’s major central banks and an escalating Russian-Ukrainian conflict .

According to data from Japan’s Ministry of Finance, domestic investors sold 3.2 trillion Japanese yen ($27.64 billion) worth of foreign bonds, the largest since April 2020.

Meanwhile, data showed that they had bought foreign stocks worth 322 billion yen.

“Bank accounts sold foreign bonds in February, likely reflecting a position unwind in the first half of the month as global yields rose before falling on the Ukraine shock,” BoFA said in a report. .

“It’s also true that Japanese bonds gained a lot in February and reduced the relative attractiveness of foreign bonds as policy shifts at the BoJ raise growing concerns,” said Naka Matsuzawa, chief macro strategist for Japan at Nomura.

Total sales of foreign bonds and stocks in the first two months of this year amounted to 2.46 trillion yen, already exceeding last year’s total sales of 1.5 trillion yen.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of tightening monetary policy or withdrawing stimulus, despite growing expectations that consumer inflation will approach the bank’s 2% target. center next month. Read more

Meanwhile, Bank of Japan data showed Japanese investors bought US bonds worth 172 billion yen in January but sold US stocks worth 282 billion yen. In the European Union, they bought 1.19 trillion yen in bonds over the same period and sold 199 billion yen in stocks.

($1 = 115.7700 yen)

Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.