Japan Sells Bunds for 8th Month, Starts Offloading Italy, France

Japanese investors sold long-term German bunds for an eighth month in August and began selling French and Italian debt as well, while purchasing securities issued by the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada.

Fund managers in the Asian nation net sold 86.8 billion yen ($801 million) of bunds, taking this year’s sales to 4.9 trillion yen, according to data from Japan’s finance ministry and central bank. They offloaded 50.3 billion yen of French debt and 54.4 billion yen of Italian securities, reversing a trend of purchases in recent months. Investors bought 789.8 billion yen of Treasuries, in a sixth month of purchases, 122.4 billion of gilts, 41.6 billion yen of Australian government debt and 16.2 billion of Canadian securities.