Oct 17 (Reuters) – Japanese stocks drew massive cross-border investments last week, driven by expectations Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader and fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi would become the country's next prime minister, stoking bets on a revival in big spending. Foreigners pumped a net 1.89 trillion yen ($12.59 billion) into Japanese stocks in the week to October 11, after a record 2.48 trillion yen net purchase the prior week, data from Japan's Ministry of Finance showed on Friday. After winning the race to lead the ruling LDP, Takaichi seemed all but certain to become Japan's first woman premier until the party's junior partner, Komeito, quit their 26-year coalition last Friday. However, her chances of becoming the next PM improved this week as the Japan Innovation Party emerged as a possible coalition partner. The Nikkei 225 index and the broader Topix Index both are down about 0.8% so far this week, after last week's gains of 5.07% and 2.19%, respectively. Foreigners, meanwhile, snapped up a net 199.4 billion yen worth of long-term Japanese bonds in their second straight week of net purchase. They also bought short-term bills of 1.52 trillion yen in their largest weekly net purchase since July 19. Elsewhere, Japanese investors invested 59.3 billion yen in foreign stocks after three straight weeks of selling. They also bought long-term foreign bonds of 596.4 billion yen and short-term bills of 77.6 billion yen. ($1 = 150.0900 yen) (Reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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