TOKYO, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The value of Japanese retail- targeted mutual funds rose for the seventh consecutive month to $650 billion in August due to strong inflows into stock and bond funds, an industry body said on Friday.
Gains in share prices, with the benchmark Nikkei share average advancing 1.3 percent in August, helped push up the overall value, but the strength of the yen limited the climb.
The overall value of publicly placed investment trust funds, or "toushins", rose 624.3 billion yen, or 1.1 percent, from the previous month to 59.4 trillion yen in August, the highest since September 2008, Japan's Investment Trusts Association said.
Overall net inflows totalled 529 billion yen in August, down 8.4 percent from 577.9 billion yen the previous month.
The value of stock investment trust funds, which make up about 80 percent of the total, rose for the seventh straight month to 47.8 trillion yen, up 0.8 percent or 385.1 billion yen from July.
Stock funds saw net inflows of 290.2 billion yen, down from 391.1 billion yen in July.
Solid inflows were seen in international equity funds and funds of hedge funds, while outflows were seen in domestic stock funds, the association said.
The value of bond funds rose 251.2 billion yen, or 2.8 percent, to 9.1 trillion yen in August. ($1=91.36 yen) (Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Joseph Radford)