Wal-Mart Stores sold ¥100 billion in Samurai bonds on Thursday, underscoring Japanese investors' strong demand for U.S. debt as long as issuers are not saddled with losses from the global credit crunch.

The sale, valued at $927 million, was Wal-Mart's first offer of these bonds, which are yen bonds sold by non-Japanese entities in Japan. It was also the first U.S. Samurai from a nonfinancial company since Ford Motor issued such bonds in February 2005.

The bonds interested Japanese investors because they have had only limited exposure to debt from sectors other than the U.S. bank and insurance industries.

Moreover, market participants said investors welcomed Wal-Mart's globally recognizable name and its image of being free from losses stemming from the credit crisis and investment in the stumbling U.S. housing sector.

"Wal-Mart attracted larger demand than some had thought," said Mana Nakazora, head of credit research at JPMorgan Securities. "The deal showed how big demand would be for bonds from companies that are little impacted by the subprime mortgage woes."

In fact, investors shrugged off concerns that a slowing U.S. economy could further erode consumer spending and retail sales.

The popularity of the Wal-Mart bonds was a sharp contrast to debt from U.S. financial institutions that have been notably inactive in the Samurai market this year. U.S. banks and other financial companies have been dominant Samurai issuers in the past, but that has all changed as Japanese institutional investors have become worried about the U.S. financial sector meltdown.