TOKYO (March 12): The coronavirus pandemic drove Japan’s biggest weekly purchase of global debt on record by its traditionally cautious funds.

With yields from the US to Germany tumbling at a furious pace, Japanese investors placed orders for 4.24 trillion yen (US$41 billion) of debt last week, according to data from the nation’s finance ministry going back to 2005. That’s close to what they bought in the first two months of the year.