May 10 (Reuters) - Foreign investors were net sellers of Japanese stocks last week as the sudden appreciation of the yen during the week raised concerns about its likely drag on earnings of local exporters.
They offloaded stocks worth a net 263.31 billion yen ($1.69 billion) during the holiday shortened week to May 2, following net purchases of about 339.99 billion yen in the previous week, data from stock exchanges showed.
Foreigners pulled 274.13 billion yen out of cash equities on a net basis last week but purchased derivative contracts of about 10.82 billion yen.
The yen shed 3.38% against the dollar last week, the most since December 2022, as Japanese authorities potentially intervened to stop a sharp slide in the currency.
In the bond market, foreign investors sold about 1.07 billion yen worth of long-term Japanese bonds, extending net selling into a third successive week. They purchased, however, short-term debt securities of 3.78 trillion yen.
Japanese domestic investors meanwhile, sold about 1.01 trillion yen in long-term foreign bonds, marking the second weekly net sale in a row. They also withdrew $34.1 billion yen out of short-term debt instruments.
Meanwhile, domestic players remained net buyers of overseas equities for a second successive week, with about 271.2 billion yen worth of purchases on a net basis.
($1 = 155.6900 yen)
(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra in Bengaluru;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
