Japanese sell record $23 bln of foreign bonds last week amid US jitters
TOKYO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Japanese investors sold a record amount of foreign bonds on a net basis last week, offloading nearly $23 billion worth, amid concerns over whether U.S. lawmakers would reach a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling by mid-October and avoid a historic default.
Japanese investors sold a net 2.226 trillion yen ($22.9 billion) in foreign bonds in the week through Oct. 5, Ministry of Finance data released on Thursday showed. That was the largest amount since the ministry began collecting the data in 2005.
With pressure rising and no clear path forward for breaking their fiscal impasse, President Barack Obama launched a series of White House meetings with lawmakers on Wednesday to search for a way to end a government shutdown and raise the borrowing limit by Oct. 17.
Foreign investors also turned net sellers in Japanese equities, with 27.1 billion yen of outflows last week, after fourth straight weeks of buying.
