TABLE-Foreigners snatch up Japanese equities in April

TOKYO, May 14 (Reuters) - Foreigners bought a net 1.2 trillion yen ($11.6 billion) in Japanese equities in April, turning net buyers for the first time in six months and logging their biggest net buying in over a year, Japan's Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.

Overseas investors bought a net 1.1843 trillion yen of Japanese equities in April, their biggest net buying since February 2007, when they bought more than 2.0 trillion yen.

Foreign investors had sold more than 1.7 trillion yen in Japanese stocks in March, when worries about financial institutions' losses from credit market turmoil sent global share prices into a tailspin.

Overseas investors also showed renewed appetite for Japanese bonds, buying a net 165.1 billion yen of medium- to long-term Japanese bonds in April.

In March, when hedge funds rushed to unwind soured bets on Japanese government bonds and interest rate swaps, foreigners sold more than 1.2 trillion yen in Japanese bonds, their biggest net selling on MOF data going back to January 2005.

Wednesday's MOF data also showed that Japanese investors sold a net 761.3 billion yen of overseas bonds in April.

But breakdowns by investor category showed that the bulk of the selling came from banking accounts, which often do not take foreign exchange risks when buying foreign bonds.

Other major Japanese investors that are known to take currency risk, such as insurers, investment trusts and trust banks, were net buyers of foreign bonds in April, at the start of Japan's new business year.

Japanese life insurers bought a net 1.0573 trillion yen in foreign bonds in April, their biggest net buying on MOF data going back to January 2005.  Continued...