Foreigners purchased Japanese stocks worth a net 247.9 billion yen ($1.70 billion), which compared with 178.89 billion yen worth of net buying in the previous week, data from exchanges showed.

Graphic: Japanese investments in stocks abroad -

Foreigners drew a net 390.44 billion yen worth of cash equities but withdrew 142.54 billion out of derivatives, after two weeks of buying in a row.

A fresh batch of Japanese companies reported upbeat earnings last week. Hitachi and Japan Tobacco raised their earnings forecasts, while Panasonic Holdings posted profits that beat analysts' estimates.

Last week, the Topix index gained 0.86% and the Nikkei share average added 0.35% in a second straight week of rise.

Meanwhile, overseas investors sold a net 322.5 billion yen worth of Japanese bonds last week, which marked a second successive week of net selling.

Japanese investors, on the other hand, disposed of a net 1.6 trillion yen worth of foreign equities in their biggest weekly net selling since July 2020. They also exited 519.9 billion yen worth of overseas bonds.

Graphic: Foreign flows into Japanese stocks -

($1 = 146.1200 yen)

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru)