Business Aug. 14, 2008 - 06:59AM JST ( 1 )

TOKYO —

The net asset value of publicly offered stock investment trust funds in Japan rose in July as more funds were established during the summer bonus period, industry data showed Wednesday.

Net assets increased 0.6 pct from a month before to 60,953.9 billion yen at the end of July, the Investment Trusts Association said.

The net assets of all publicly offered investment trusts, including bond funds, grew 0.2 pct to 73,154.8 billion yen.

In July, the benchmark Nikkei stock average fell 0.8 pct while the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 pct.

Thanks to the relative calm on stock markets, investment losses were limited, also contributing to the increase in the net asset value.

Balanced-typed funds that mainly invest in Japanese and foreign government bonds, which are considered safe assets, remained popular.

By contrast, domestic stock funds and global stock funds logged money outflows as cancellations and redemptions outpaced the establishment of funds.

JCN