Japan trust fund value hits 6-month high in April

TOKYO May 18 (Reuters) - The value of Japanese investment trust funds rose more than 4 percent to its highest in six months as the recovery in global share prices prompted fresh inflows into the market, a fund industry body said on Monday.

The value of publicly placed trust funds, rose 2.1 trillion yen -- the biggest monthly gain since April 2008 -- to 53.6 trillion yen ($565.4 billion) in April from the previous month, data from Japan's Investment Trusts Association showed.

Investor sentiment has been improving as share prices bottom out from lows hit in March, Fumio Inue, the association's vice president, told a news conference. The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 rose 8.9 percent in April.

"We are starting to see improvements in economic indicators both internationally and domestically. Comments by monetary authorities have also indicated that global markets could be out of the worst," Inui said.

The value of privately placed investment trust funds, which are mainly bought by institutions, rose 5.2 percent to 26.1 trillion yen in April.

The value of stock investment trust assets, which make up nearly 80 percent of the total, rose 4.8 percent to 42.3 trillion yen in April from the previous month.

Japanese investment trust holdings of foreign stocks, bonds and money market instruments rose by 1.3 trillion yen to 23.9 trillion yen, the association said.

Foreign stock investments rose by 485 billion yen to 4.2 trillion yen in April, making up 17.7 percent of total overseas asset holdings.

Foreign bond holdings rose by 356 billion yen to 16.3 trillion yen, making up 68.2 percent of total overseas holdings. ($1=94.80 yen) (Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Joseph Radford)