International Transactions in Securities (MOF) in Japan

Measures the weekly net flows of securities transactions (bonds and equities) between Japan and the rest of the world, reported by the large institutional investors designated by the Ministry of Finance (MOF): banks, asset managers and insurers.

The MOF aggregates the purchase and sale amounts reported weekly by the designated institutional investors and publishes the net balance by asset type (equities, long-term debt, short-term debt) and by direction (residents buying foreign securities and non-residents buying Japanese securities).

Net inflows of foreign capital into Japanese equities or bonds tend to strengthen the yen, whereas net outflows (residents buying abroad) tend to weaken it. It is a high-frequency indicator closely watched by the currency market, usually of moderate but very frequent impact.

It covers only the designated large investors, not the whole market; the series is very volatile week to week and subject to minor revisions in the following release, so the multi-week trend is more telling.