(Reuters) - Foreign investors made hefty investments in Japanese stocks in the week ended July 5, driven by a market rally and optimism over the outlook for solid corporate earnings in the second half of the year.

According to exchange data, overseas investors bought Japanese stocks worth a net 916.05 billion yen ($5.67 billion) last week, their biggest weekly net purchase since Jan. 12.

Investors snapped up derivative contracts of around 732.36 billion yen while securing cash equities of about 183.69 billion yen on a net basis.

The Nikkei share average jumped 3.36% last week, registering its best weekly gain since March 22. The broader Topix index advanced 2.65%.

The Nikkei hit an all-time high on Thursday, crossing 42,000 points for the first time, and the Topix index hit a record closing high of 2,929.17.

Gains in U.S. megacap growth stocks last week also lifted Japanese technology shares, with SoftBank Group soaring 8.04% and semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest rising 3.2%.

Conversely, overseas investors pulled back from Japanese bonds for a fourth consecutive week, selling long-term bonds worth a net 228.8 billion yen and short-term instruments totalling 876.9 billion yen, Ministry of Finance data showed.

Meanwhile, Japanese investors snapped a two-week selling streak in overseas debt markets last week. They secured long-term foreign bonds of a net 237.7 billion yen and short-term securities of about 96.6 billion yen.

Japanese investors, meanwhile, withdrew a net 555.6 billion yen out of foreign equities, which was their largest weekly net disposal since May 31.

($1 = 161.6200 yen)