Foreigners' Buying Fuels Nikkei Rebound

Overseas investors are ramping up their purchase of Japanese stocks, with net buying since April amounting to 2.08 trillion yen ($20.8 billion), up 26% from a year earlier, according to Nikkei. With individuals, pension funds and other investors all unloading shares, foreigners are fueling the rise in the Nikkei Stock Average, which rebounded to the 10,500 level. Hedge funds and other overseas investors had been net sellers of Japanese stocks to the tune of about 6 trillion yen ($60 billion) from September 2008 to March 2009.