Japan retail fund outflows double in June -Nomura

TOKYO, July 3 (Reuters) - Net outflows from Japanese mutual
funds targeting individuals more than doubled in June as
investors locked in profits after a sharp recovery in share
prices, data showed on Friday.

The Nikkei share average .N225 rose more than 40 percent
from a low hit in March to break the 10,000 mark in June.

Retail investors may have booked profits on exchange-traded
funds, helping expand outflow, after buying heavily in March,
said an official from Nomura Research Institute (NRI) which
compiled the data.

Overall net outflow from publicly placed investment trust
funds, or "toshin", rose to 110.8 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in
June, up from 49.6 billion yen the previous month.

Foreign stock funds saw a net inflow of 42.6 billion yen in
June, up from an inflow of 600 million yen the previous month.

But retail investors were net sellers of foreign bond funds
for the first time since February, with a net outflow of 3.7
billion yen in June after a net inflow of 45.5 billion yen in
May.

Separately, Finance Ministry data on Thursday showed Japanese
investors, both institutional and retail, bought a whopping 1.53
trillion yen of overseas bonds last week, the most they have
bought in one week since June 2005.

Japanese investors have been net buyers of foreign debt for
eight weeks in a row, according to the finance ministry data, as
they feel more comfortable diversifying abroad.

The NRI data showed net outflow from domestic stocks funds
rose 5 percent to 45.9 billion yen in June.

The overall value of investment trust funds rose for a fifth
straight month, rising 2 percent to 45.2 trillion yen by the end
of June -- the highest level since September last year.
Following is a breakdown of the data.
Net fund flow (in billion yen):

June May

Overall -110.8 -49.6

Japanese stock funds -45.9 -43.7

Foreign stock funds +42.6 +0.6

Japanese bond funds +0.6 -3.4

Foreign bond funds -3.7 +45.5

Domestic hybrid funds +5.8 +3.6

Foreign hybrid funds -1.8 -17.5
Total asset value (in trillion yen):

June May

Overall 45.2 44.3

Japanese stock funds 5.1 4.9

Foreign stock funds 6.6 6.4

Japanese bond funds 1.9 1.9

Foreign bond funds 19.5 19.3

Domestic hybrid funds 8.4 0.8

Foreign hybrid funds 8.2 8.0
(Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)