NEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Foreign central banks' holdings of U.S. Treasury securities at the Federal Reserve rose in the latest week, while their holdings of agency securities fell yet again, Federal Reserve data showed on Friday.
Treasuries holdings of overseas central banks at the Fed rose by $12.872 billion in the week ended Dec. 31 to $1.707 trillion.
Their holdings of agency securities fell for a 13th consecutive week. Such holdings of these securities issued or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac decreased by $4.475 billion to $814.52 billion in the same week.
The combined holdings of Treasuries and agency securities by foreign central banks at the Fed totaled $2.522 trillion, up $8.396 billion in the week.
Overseas central banks, particularly those in Asia, have been huge buyers of U.S. debt in recent years and own over a quarter of marketable Treasuries. China recently overtook Japan as the biggest such buyer.
The full Fed report can be found on:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/
(Reporting by Burton Frierson, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Keywords: USA FED/FOREIGNERS (burton.frierson@thomsonreuters.com;+1 646-223-6292; Reuters Messaging: burton.frierson.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Treasuries holdings of overseas central banks at the Fed rose by $12.872 billion in the week ended Dec. 31 to $1.707 trillion.
Their holdings of agency securities fell for a 13th consecutive week. Such holdings of these securities issued or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac decreased by $4.475 billion to $814.52 billion in the same week.
The combined holdings of Treasuries and agency securities by foreign central banks at the Fed totaled $2.522 trillion, up $8.396 billion in the week.
Overseas central banks, particularly those in Asia, have been huge buyers of U.S. debt in recent years and own over a quarter of marketable Treasuries. China recently overtook Japan as the biggest such buyer.
The full Fed report can be found on:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/
(Reporting by Burton Frierson, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Keywords: USA FED/FOREIGNERS (burton.frierson@thomsonreuters.com;+1 646-223-6292; Reuters Messaging: burton.frierson.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.