(Bloomberg) -- Funds from Japan and China offloaded a record amount of US stocks in 2023 to cash in on double-digit returns offered by the market.

Japanese investors dumped a net $30.8 billion worth of US shares last year, while their Chinese counterparts sold $19.7 billion in the same period, according to data released by the US Department of the Treasury on Thursday. That was the biggest disposal in data going back to 1977.

The S&P 500 Index returned 35.7% to yen-based investors in 2023 after taking into account currency fluctuations and reinvested dividends. Returns in yuan totaled 30%.

However, Japanese investors became net buyers of Treasuries for the first time since 2014 last year. They purchased $19.5 billion of US bonds in 2023 after selling a total of $352 billion over the eight years ending 2022. 

Chinese funds remained bearish on US government debt for a second consecutive year with sales of $68.2 billion in 2023.

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